THIS    WORK    IS    SOLD    EXCLUSIVELY    BY    AGENTS. 


LIFE 


WILLIAM    PLUMER, 


BY    HIS    SON, 


WILLIAM    PLUMER    JUNIOR. 


EDITED 


WITH    A    SKETCH    OF    THE    AUTHOR'S    LIFE, 


B  Y 


A.    P.    PEABODY. 


B  O  §  T  O  N  : 

PHILLIPS,    SAMPSON    AND     COMPANY, 
CLARE MO NT:     ALVIN    KENNEY. 

1857. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1856,  by 

PHILLIPS,    SAMPSON    &     CO., 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


rnisa  or  THE 

JTranTtHn    ^printing 

Corner  of  Franklin  and  Hawlcy  Street*, 


P73P7 


PREFACE. 


THIS  work  was  left,  by  its  lamented  author,  nearly  complete  in  a 
first  draught.  It  was  his  design  to  append  a  closing  Chapter,  and 
materials  for  this  were  found  among  his  papers.  These  would  have 
been  wrought  into  something  resembling  the  form  and  dimensions 
originally  designed,  had  not  the  length  of  the  Memoir  rendered  it 
inexpedient.  On  this  account,  the  Editor  has  contented  himself  with 
adding  to  the  Thirteenth  Chapter,  as  it  came  to  his  hands,  a  very 
small  portion  of  what  would  have  constituted  the  Fourteenth.  In 
preparing  this  volume  for  the  press,  our  limits  have  obliged  us  to 
omit  numerous  incidents,  letters,  and  memoranda,  of  equal  interest 
with  those  inserted,  but  less  essential  to  the  continuity  and  perfect- 
ness  of  the  narrative. 

As  regards  the  opinions  expressed  or  implied  in  this  work,  the 
Editor  can  hardly  need  to  say,  that  he  has,  in  no  case,  suppressed 
or  modified  them,  when  they  differed  from  his  own.  Having  been 
born  and  educated  in  the  very  heart  of  Massachusetts  Federalism, 
while  he  cannot  for  a  moment  doubt  the  authenticity  of  the  state 
ments  of  fact  here  recorded,  with  reference  to  the  Federal  party,  he 
is  not  always  prepared  to  assent  to  the  inferences  drawn  from  them. 
He  deems  them,  however,  worthy  of  the  most  respectful  considera 
tion,  as  the  deductions  of  one,  whose  position  gave  him  opportunities 
of  keen  insight,  and  whose  calm,  dispassionate,  candid  habits  of 
thought,  speech,  and  writing,  impart  added  weight  of  probability  to 
his  views  of  men  and  measures. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

PREFACE iii. 

Sketch  of  the  Author's  Life  and  Character ix. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE      YOUTH. 

Mr.  Plumer's   ancestry. — Parentage. — School  education. — Home  train 
ing. — Removal  to  Epping. — Eagerness  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge.     1 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE   PREACHER   AND   THE   SCEPTIC. 

Mr.  Plumer  becomes  strongly  interested  in  religion. — His  baptism. — 
His  career  as  a  preacher. — His  scepticism. — His  resignation  of  a 
preacher's  office • 24 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE      LAW      STUDENT      AND      LEGISLATOR. 

Battle  of  Bunker  Hill. — Mr.  Plumer's  first  essay  as  a  writer. — Select 
man  of  Epping. — Commences  the  study  of  law  with  Joshua 
Atherton. — Abandons  it  discouraged. — Becomes  a  land-holder  and 
farmer. — Elected  to  the  Legislature. — Resumes  the  study  of  law 
with  John  Prentice. — Mode  and  extent  of  study. — Legislative 
labors. — Insurrection  threatened. — Convention  to  discuss  griev 
ances. — Armed  resistance  to  the  government  in  Rockingham 
County.— Admission  to  the  bar. — Marriage 43 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER     IV. 

THE      LEGISLATOR. 

PAGE. 

Adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. — Parties  under  it. — 
New  Hampshire  Convention  for  ratifying  it. — Legislature  of  1788. — 
Mr.  Plumer's  course  as  to  the  choice  of  United  States  Senators. — As  to 
the  choice  of  Electors. — As  to  the  taxing  of  state  notes. — Debate  on 
the  punishment  for  blasphemy. — John  S.  Sherburne. — Mr.  Plumer 
chosen  Speaker  of  the  House. — Incorporation  of  the  New  Hampshire 
Bank. — Convention  for  revising  the  Constitution. — Religious  free 
dom. — Religious  test  for  office-holders. — Constitution  of  the  Legis 
lature. — Organization  of  the  Judiciary. — Results  of  the  Conven 
tion. — Mr.  Plumer  again  Speaker. — His  action  on  the  subject  of 
official  salaries, — Collision  with  Prentice. — Death  of  his  mother. — 
Petition  for  a  new  bank. — Severe  illness. — Chosen  United  States 
Senator 92 

CHAPTER    V. 

THE      L  A  W  Y  E  11  . 

Condition  of  the  Law  in  New  Hampshire. — The  Colonial  Judges. — 
Judges  after  the  Revolution. — Meshech  Weare. — Samuel  Liver- 
more. — Josiah  Bartlett. — John  Pickering. — Simeon  Olcutt. — John 
Dudley. — Timothy  Farrar. — Special  pleading. — Anecdote  of  Jere 
miah  Mason. — Principal  lawyers  in  Rockingham  and  Strafford 
Counties. — Modes  of  practice. — Mr.  Plumer's  activity  and  energy. — 
Theophilus  Parsons. — Jeremiah  Smith. — Salaries  of  Judges. — Paine 
Wingate. — Mr.  Plumer's  advocacy  of  religious  freedom 149 

CHAPTER    VI. 

THE      LAWYER.  —  (CONTINUED.) 

Mr.  Plumer.  as  a  counsellor. — A  conveyancer. — A  jury  lawyer. — An 
orator  at  the  bar. — Samuel  Dexter. — Character  of  the  Rockingham 
bar. — George  Sullivan. — Jeremiah  Smith. — Daniel  Webster. — Rem 
iniscences  of  Mr.  Plumer  as  a  lawyer,  by  Peyton  11.  Freeman. — 
John  Porter.— Nicholas  Emery. — Moody  Kent. — George  Sullivan. — 
Jeremiah  Smith. — Arthur  Livermore. — Jeremiah  Mason. — Daniel 
Webster. — Extent  of  Mr.  Plumer's  business 191 

CHAPTER    VII. 

THE       SENATOR. 

State  of  parties  under  Jefferson. — Journey  to  Washington. — Introduction 
to  the  President. — Thomas  Paine's  intimacy  with  Jefferson. — Dinner 
at  the  President's  house. — Political  letters. — Refusal  of  the  right  of 


CONTENTS. 


deposit  at  New  Orleans. — John  Randolph. — Aaron  Burr. — Ilillhouse, 
of  Connecticut. — Purchase _of_  Louisiana. — Amendment  of  the 
Constitution  as  to  the  choice  of  Electors. — Mr.  Plumer's  speech 
against  it. — Impeachment  of  Judge  Pickering. — Radical  notions  in 
the  Republican  party  as  to  the  tenure  of  judicial  office. — Doubts  as  to 
the  permanence  of  the  Union. — Extracts  from  letters  as  to  plans  of 
disunion  in  1803-4. — Letter  from  Mr.  Plumer  to  John  Quincy 
Adams. — Controversy  ensuing  from  that  letter. — Alexander  Hamil 
ton's  relation  to  the  movement 239 

CHAPTER     VIII. 

THE       SENATOR.  —  (CONTINUED.) 

Mr.  Plumer's  address  to  the  Federalist  Electors  of  New  Hampshire. — 
Impeachment  of  Judge  Chase. —  Aaron  Burr's  demeanor  as  presid 
ing  officer  of  the  Senate. — His  farewell  to  the  Senate. — Details  of 
a  journey  to  Washington  in  1805. — Indian  treaties. — Secret  service 
money. — Non-intercourse  with  England. — Relative  strength  of 
parties  in  the  Senate. — Seditious  movements  of  Aaron  Burr. — 
Henry  Clay's  first  appearance  in  Congress. — Leaders  in  Wash 
ington 313 

CHAPTER     IX. 

NEW      POLITICAL       RELATIONS. 

Mr.  Plumer  plans  a  History  of  the  United  States. — British  Orders  in 
Council,  and  Berlin  and  Milan  Decrees. — Embargo. — Mr.  Plumer 
joins  the  Republican  party. — Fears  for  the  Union. — Letter  from 
John  Quincy  Adams. — Mr.  Plumer  is  elected  to  the  New  Hamp 
shire  Senate. — Chosen  President  of  the  Senate. — Nominated  candi 
date  for  Governor 357 

CHAPTER    X. 

THE       CHIEF      MAGISTRATE. 

Mr.  Plumer  is  elected  Governor  in  Convention  of  the  two  Houses. — 
Escorted  to  the  seat  of  Government. — Message  to  the  Legislature. — 
Orders  out  companies  of  militia  for  defensive  service. — Appointment 
of  judges. — Correction  of  abuses  in  the  Council. — Choice  of  United 
States  Senator. — Erection  of  the  State's  Prison. — Reform  of  the 
criminal  code. — Federalist  opposition  to  the  General  Government. — 
Mr.  Plumer  defeated,  and  Gilman  elected  Governor. — Abolition  and 
re- construction  of  the  Courts. — Mr.  Plumer's  address  to  the  Clergy 
of  New  England. — Hartford  Convention. — «  Era  of  good  feeling."  387 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

THE      CHIEF      MAGISTRATE.  —  (CONTINUED.) 

Visit  to  Judge  Story. — Mr.  Plumer  is  again  elected  Governor. — Courts 
again  re- constructed  on  the  old  model. — Re- organization  of  Dart 
mouth  College. — Letter  from  Mr.  Jefferson. — Appointment  of 
Judges. — Location  of  the  new  State  House. — Treasury  notes. — 
Letter  from  John  Quincy  Adams. — Decision  in  the  case  of  Dart 
mouth  College. — "  Advocate  "  party 430 

CHAPTER    XII. 

CLOSE      OF      POLITICAL      LIFE. 

Legislative  discussion  of  the  polity  of  the  Shakers. — Mary  Dyer. — Presi 
dent  Monroe's  visit  to  New  Hampshire. — Correspondence  with 
him. — Extracts  from  Journal. — Mr.  Plumer's  re-election. — He  rec 
ommends  the  amelioration  of  laws  for  the  imprisonment  of 
debtors. — Correspondence  with  Jeremy  Bentham. — Mr.  Plumer 
declines  re-election. — Death  of  his  daughter. — Farewell  message. — 
Retirement  from  office. — Vote  as  Elector  for  John  Quincy  Adams.  .464 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

OLD      AGE. 

Essays  under  the  signature  of  Cincinnatus. — Biographical  sketches. — 
Laborious  literary  life. — Letters  on  the  Missouri  question. — Support 
of  Adams's  administration. — Answer  to  an  invitation  to  the  second 
centennial  anniversary  of  the  settlement  of  Newburyport. — Answer 
to  an  invitation  to  the  festival  of  the  Sons  of  New  Hampshire. — 
Extracts  from  Journal. — Personal  habits. — Decline  of  health. — 
Decay  of  Memory. — Dangerous  illness. — Death  of  his  youngest 
son. — Last  illness. — Death. — Funeral. — Proceedings  of  New  Hamp 
shire  Constitutional  Convention. — Personal  appearance  and  general 
character 497 


SKETCH 


OP      THE 


LIFE     AND     CHARACTER     OF     THE    AUTHOR, 


WILLIAM  PLUMER,  the  oldest  child  of  William  and  Sally 
Plumer,  was  born  in  Epping,  N.  H.,  on  the  9th  of  February, 
1789.  His  childhood  was  marked  by  the  love  of  books,  and 
the  self-formed  habit  of  study,  and  equally  so,  by  modesty, 
quietness,  and  docility.  At  the  age  of  thirteen,  he  entered 
Phillips  Exeter  Academy,  to  be  prepared  for  college.  While 
here,  he  gained,  at  the  outset,  the  reputation  of  being  a  great 
reader,  but  a  poor  scholar, — was  regarded  by  his  companions 
as  their  infallible  authority  in  matters  of  history  and  litera 
ture,  while,  for  the  first  two  years,  he  permitted  them  to  take 
precedence  of  him  on  the  class  roll.  During  his  last  year  at 
Exeter,  he  applied  himself  to  study  with  great  diligence,  so 
that,  at  the  commencement  of  1805,  he  was  among  the  foremost 
of  the  successful  candidates  for  admission  to  Harvard  College. 
While  in  college,  he  devoted  a  large  portion  of  his  time  to 
general  reading,  yet  without  detriment  to  his  academic  rank. 
He  acquired,  during  his  collegiate  life,  a  good  degree  of 
facility  and  grace  as  a  writer,  and  maintained  his  place  among 
the  highest  scholars  of  his  class. 

Immediately  after  taking  his  degree,  he  commenced  the 
study  of  law  with  his  father.  But,  while  by  no  means 
unmindful  of  the  demands  of  his  chosen  profession,  he  com 
prehended,  in  his  preparation  for  it,  a  much  wider  scope  than 


X  SKETCH      OF      THE      AUTHOK. 

is  usually  assigned  to  it,  speaking  in  his  journal  of  "  an  inti 
mate  acquaintance  with  History,  Belles-Lettres,  Moral  Philos 
ophy  and  Politics/'  as  "  necessary  to  the  education  of  a 
lawyer."  In  all  these  departments  he  was  early  a  diligent 
student,  and  it  is  believed  that  few  of  his  co-evals  became 
more  thoroughly  conversant  with  ancient  or  modern  history, 
or  with  the  classics  of  English  literature  in  every  age. 

In  1812,  he  returned  to  Cambridge,  to  take  his  second 
degree,  on  which  occasion  he  delivered  the  English  Oration. 
He  had  formed  very  strong  college  friendships  ;  but  the  most 
intimate  of  them  hardly  survived  this  period,  except  in  his 
regretful  memory,  an  unusual  mortality  having  more  than 
decimated  his  class  within  the  first  five  years.  In  the  autumn 
of  1812,  he  made  his  first  public  appearance  as  a  political 
orator,  at  a  Republican  Convention  in  Kingston.  During  this 
same  autumn,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  The  greater  part 
of  the  four  following  years  he  spent  at  Epping,  engaged  in 
study,  occasionally  writing  for  the  public  journals,  and  some 
times  appearing,  with  credit  to  himself  and  advantage  to  his 
cause,  at  political  meetings.  He  projected  a  History  of  the 
Foreign  Intercourse  of  the  United  States,  but  abandoned  the 
plan,  on  the  appearance,  in  Boston,  of  a  prospectus  for  a  sim 
ilar  work,  from  another  hand.  On  the  close  of  the  war  with 
Great  Britain,  he  commenced  writing  an  elaborate  History  of 
the  War,  and  had  made  considerable  progress  in  it,  when  the 
crowded  occupations  of  public  life  suspended  a  work  which 
he  never  afterwards  resumed. 

In  the  summer  of  1816,  he  received  from  the  United 
States  Government  an  appointment  as  Commissioner  of  Loans 
for  New  Hampshire,  and  removed  to  Portsmouth  to  enter 
upon  his  new  duties.  He  held  this  office  seventeen  months, 
when  it  was  abolished,  and  he  returned  to  Epping. 

In  1818,  he  was  elected  to  represent  his  native  town  in  the 
Legislature.  He  at  once  became  a  leading  member,  bore  a 
prominent  part  in  the  principal  debates,  and  took  the  initiative 


SKETCH      OF      THE      AUTHOR.  XI 

in  several  important  measures.  At  that  session  he  was  nom 
inated  as  a  Representative  to  Congress,  was  elected  in  the 
following  spring,  and  re-elected  for  the  two  subsequent  terms, 
thus  serving  in  three  successive  Congresses. 

During  his  first  session  at  Washington,  the  question  of  the 
admission  of  Missouri  as  a  slave  state  was  agitated.  He  stood 
firm  on  the  side  of  freedom  ;  and  among  the  speeches  delivered 
at  the  various  stages  of  the  debate,  it  is  doubted  whether  any 
surpasses  one  of  his,  which  we  have  now  before  us,  in  politi 
cal  wisdom,  in  legislative  dignity,  and  in  explicitness  as  to 
the  principles  to  which,  had  the  North  remained  true,  the 
agitation  of  the  last  few  years  would  have  been  happily  super 
seded,  and  the  area  of  freedom  would  have  exchanged  pro 
portions  with  that  of  slavery.  In  the  seventeenth  Congress, 
he  served  as  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary. 
In  1824,  he  was  chosen  United  States  Senator,  on  the  part  of 
the  New  Hampshire  Senate  ;  but  in  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  there  was  no  choice,  and  in  the  next  Legislature,  the 
two  Houses  united  on  another  candidate.  While  in  Congress, 
he  formed  an  intimacy,  which  lasted  through  their  respective 
lives,  with  John  Quincy  Adams  and  Daniel  Webster.  With 
the  inauguration  of  Mr.  Adams,  his  life  at  Washington 
terminated. 

On  the  13th  of  September,  1820,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Margaret  F.  Mead,  and,  shortly  afterward,  built  a  house,  near 
his  father's,  and  in  the  midst  of  his  kindred,  which  was  thence 
forward  his  home. 

In  1827  and  1828,  he  was  a  member  of  the  New  Hamp 
shire  Senate,  but  declined  being  a  candidate  for  a  third  term. 
In  1827,  he  unexpectedly  received  from  President  Adams  a 
commission  as  District  Attorney  for  New  Hampshire.  But 
he  had  never  been  very  actively  engaged  in  the  practice  of 
his  profession,  had,  for  several  years,  been  entirely  withdrawn 
from  it,  and  had  no  disposition  to  resume  it.  He  was,  how 
ever,  greatly  gratified  by  the  appointment,  and  especially 


Xll  SKETCH      OF      THE      AUTHOR. 

by  its  having  been  made  without  solicitation  or  suggestion 
from  any  one,  as  Mr.  Adams  wrote  to  him,  "  a  personal 
knowledge  of  your  qualifications  superseding  the  necessity 
for  any  recommendation."  Little  as  he  had  appeared  in  the 
courts,  the  general  opinion  of  his  friends  as  to  the  thorough 
ness  of  his  professional  attainments  may  be  inferred  from  his 
having  been  repeatedly  solicited  to  suffer  himself  to  be  placed 
upon  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  his  native  State. 

On  leaving  the  Senate,  he  considered  himself  as  having 
retired  from  public  life.  He,  indeed,  not  infrequently  took 
part  in  political  meetings,  sustained  various  important  trusts, 
and  was  always  ready  to  devote  his  time  and  talents  to  the 
general  good.  But  his  life  was,  for  the  most  part,  that  of 
literary  industry  and  enjoyment.  His  home  was  pre 
eminently  happy ;  his  hospitality  drew  many  friends  around 
him  ;  and  his  domestic  felicity,  so  firmly  established  that  inev 
itable  affliction  alone  could  disturb  it,  was  clouded  only  by 
the  death  of  an  infant  child.  He  might,  perhaps,  have 
sought  a  residence,  where  he  would  have  had  easy  access 
to  other  libraries  than  his  own  and  his  father's,  and  have 
enjoyed  more  of  the  society  of  literary  men  ;  but,  during 
his  father's  lifetime,  filial  piety  and  community  of  tastes  and 
pursuits  determined  his  continued  residence  near  the  paternal 
mansion,  and,  when  these  motives  existed  no  longer,  he  had 
survived  the  period  when  change  is  easily  made. 

He  had  early  developed  a  poetical  vein,  and,  while  in  col 
lege,  had  acquired  considerable  reputation  by  writing  several 
of  his  themes  in  verse.  In  his  domestic  retirement,  he 
rekindled  the  youthful  flame,  and  became  the  author  of  not  a 
few  poems,  some  of  which  were  printed, — we  can  hardly  say 
published, — while  many  more  remain  with  his  family,  their 
precious  memorial  of  his  genius  and  culture.  Among  these 
•ooerns  were  three  collections  of  Sonnets,  under  the  common 
title  of  "  Personal  Sketches,"  and  the  specific  heads  of 
"  Youth,"  "  Manhood,"  and  "  Age."  Of  the  first  two,  he 


SKETCH      OF      THE      AUTHOR.  Xlll 

printed,  chiefly  for  distribution  among  his  friends,  small 
editions,  in  1841  and  1843  respectively.  The  sonnets  in 
these  volumes  are  admirable  specimens  of  euphonious  versi 
fication,  chaste  imagery,  and  affluent  thought.  Calm,  quiet, 
contemplative,  introspective,  they  are  rich  and  beautiful  in 
themselves,  and  meet  the  sympathy  of  those  of  kindred  mood 
with  the  author  ;  but  there  is  in  them  little  of  the  stirring, 
none  of  the  spasmodic  element,  which  characterizes  so  much 
of  the  literature  of  the  present  generation.  In  1845,  he 
published  "  Lyrica  Sacra ;  or,  War-Songs  and  Ballads 
from  the  Old  Testament," — a  felicitous  versification  of  those 
portions  of  the  poetry  of  the  Bible  which  fall  under  the 
description  of  the  title.  In  1847,  he  published  a  Pastoral, 
founded  on  the  biblical  story  of  Ruth.  In  this,  he  displays 
a  deep  insight  into  the  history  and  spirit  of  the  times,  and  a 
highly  creative  imagination  in  grouping  subsidiary  ideas  and 
incidents  around  the  prominent  personages  and  leading  events 
of  the  scripture  narrative.  If  the  poem  has  any  fault,  it  is  in 
its  subject.  It  was,  perhaps,  hardly  safe  to  choose  for  artisti- 
cal  re-creation  a  story  in  itself  so  fully  fraught  with  all  the  ele 
ments  of  poetry  ;  and  the  most  smoothly  flowing  anapaests  of 
English  verse  can  hardly  replace,  with  lovers  of  the  Bible,  the 
almost  rhythmical  prose  of  the  Book  of  Ruth  in  our  common 
version. 

His  quiet  home-life  was  broken  in  upon,  not  infrequently, 
by  the  claims  of  various  public  occasions,  and  the  attractions 
of  travel.  He  represented  New  Hampshire  at  the  Centen 
nial  Celebration  at  Cambridge.  He  officiated  as  Chairman  of 
the  Committee  for  the  Abbott  Festival,  at  Exeter.  He 
responded,  in  behalf  of  the  invited  guests,  to  Mr.  Webster's 
greeting,  at  the  first  Festival  of  the  Sons  of  New  Hampshire. 
In  1850,  after  an  absence  of  a  quarter  of  a  century,  he  revis 
ited  Washington,  where  he  was  received  with  great  cordial 
ity  by  such  of  his  early  associates  as  remained  in  Congress, 


XIV  SKETCH       OF      THE      AUTHOR. 

and  was  met  with  many  gratifying  tokens  of  high,  regard  by 
those  who  then  first  made  his  acquaintance. 

For  several  of  the  last  years  of  his  life,  he  was  President 
of  the  Trustees  of  the  New  Hampshire  Insane  Asylum,  and 
devoted  a  large  amount  of  time  and  labor  to  that  philanthropic 
service.  Indeed,  duties  of  this  description  never  found  him 
backward.  He  was  eminently  a  humane  man,  and  entered 
with  profound  interest  into  whatever  enterprise  was  adapted 
to  relieve  the  suffering  and  raise  the  depressed.  In  this 
spirit,  he  took  an  active,  though  not  a  partisan,  interest  in 
the  great  reforms  of  the  age.  From  his  determined  opposi 
tion  to  the  Missouri  Compromise,  thenceonward,  he  was 
always  ready,  with  tongue  and  pen,  to  deprecate  the  exten 
sion  of  slavery,  and  to  advocate  such  elections  and  measures 
as  augured  well  for  the  cause  of  freedom. 

In  the  autumn  of  1850,  he  took  his  seat  as  a  member  of 
the  Convention  for  revising  the  Constitution  of  New  Hamp 
shire,  and  it  is  believed  that  no  member  exerted  a  stronger 
influence  than  he,  or  was  regarded  as  his  superior  in  political 
experience  and  wisdom,  in  conversance  with  constitutional 
history  and  precedent,  or  in  weight  of  argument  as  a  debater. 
Probably  the  leading  speech  of  the  session  was  one  by  him 
against  the  proposal  to  make  the  Judiciary  dependent  on  the 
popular  suffrage. 

During  the  winter  of  1850 — 51,  he  was  afflicted  with  a 
local  disease,  at  first  supposed  to  be  a  stubborn  ague,  but 
which  was  subsequently  found  to  be  an  affection  of  the  mem 
branous  covering  of  the  jaw-bone.  From  this  he  suffered  for 
many  months,  and  his  friend  and  classmate,  Dr.  Hayward, 
feared  a  fatal  termination.  His  recovery,  however,  seemed 
entire,  though  undoubtedly  his  constitution  was  impaired,  so 
as  to  render  him  the  easier  prey  to  the  illness  which  termi 
nated  his  life.  The  leisure  of  his  latter  years  was  principally 
devoted  to  the  preparation  of  the  volume  now  given  to  the 
public. 


SKETCH      OF      THE      AUTHOR.  XV 

His  last  illness — an  inflammation  of  the  bowels — seized  him 
on  the  night  of  September  8th,  1854.  He  was  at  once  greatly 
enfeebled,  but  was  not  regarded  as  in  danger  till  the  18th. 
During  the  greater  part  of  that  day,  he  was  speechless  and 
unconscious,  and  sank  in  the  afternoon,  in  painless  dissolution. 

His  was  a  character  which  most  impressed  those  who  knew 
him  best.  Modest  and  unambitious,  he  shrank  from  notoriety, 
and  was  seen  in  public  only  when  sought  out,  and  drawn 
from  his  retirement.  The  writer,  who  long  enjoyed  his  inti 
macy,  has  seldom  been  conversant  with  a  mind  so  rich  and 
full,  so  accurate  in  fact,  so  sound  in  opinion,  so  weighty  in 
inference,  so  suggestive  and  instructive  to  one  of  kindred 
tastes  and  congenial  pursuits. 

His  moral  tastes  and  sensibilities  were  eminently  true,  pure, 
and  delicate.  From  youth  to  age,  his  life  was  governed  by 
the  severest  principle,  and  might  have  challenged  the  closest 
scrutiny.  His  friendships  were  strong,  and  he  cherished  no 
enmities.  None  knew  him  but  to  respect  him  ;  none  shared  his 
intimacy  without  holding  him  in  the  most  affectionate  regard. 
As  a  neighbor  and  a  citizen,  he  was  a  peace-maker,  a  steadfast 
friend  of  improvement  and  progress,  a  counsellor  and  helper 
in  every  good  work,  a  consistent  and  judicious  advocate  of 
whatever  could  make  those  around  him  happier  and  better. 

We  have  never  known  a  more  perfect  embodiment  than  in 
him,  of  all  the  graces  and  amenities  of  domestic  life.  Sig 
nally  blessed  in  his  domestic  relations,  he  found  his  chief  joy 
in  his  family,  and  in  the  exercise  of  the  most  ample  and 
cordial  hospitality,  equally  to  those  whose  intellectual  com 
munion  gave  refreshment  and  stimulus  to  his  own  mind,  and 
to  those  who  derived  from  his  kindness  solace  in  their  deso 
lation,  or  relief  in  their  straitnesses.  Disinterested  and  self- 
forgetting  in  his  loving  offices  for  those  around  him,  he 
unconsciously  made  himself  the  cynosure  of  their  assiduous 
and  devoted  attentions, — the  light  and  joy  of  the  favored 


XVI  SKETCH      OF      THE      AUTHOR. 

circle,  who  felt  that  the  larger  half  of  life  was  taken  from 
them,  when  he  was  removed. 

He  was  a  Christian,  in  belief,  practice,  and  spirit.  He 
loved  the  Scriptures,  and  was  not  only  a  daily  reader,  but  a 
diligent  and  critical  student,  of  the  Divine  "Word.  His  theo 
logical  scholarship  was  extensive  and  accurate,  and  it  was  a 
profound  heart-interest  in  religious  truth,  that  preceded  and 
guided  him,  as  he  sought  its  sources,  and  traced  out  its  foun 
tains.  His  life  was  closely  conformed  to  the  precepts  of  the 
Gospel,  and  he  lost  no  opportunity  of  expressing  his  profound 
reverence  for  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  and  the  character 
of  its  Founder.  His  trust  in  Providence  was  entire  and 
implicit,  and  combined  with  his  natural  temperament,  to 
impart  a  peculiar  serenity  to  his  speech,  and  his  whole  man 
ner  of  life.  He  had  clear  and  happy  views  of  death,  and  of 
the  life  beyond  death  ;  and,  though  the  last  change  stole  upon 
him  without  warning,  we  could  not,  on  his  account,  regret  its 
suddenness.  His  work  was  done,  and  well  done.  His 
departure  was  as  tranquil  as  had  been  the  even  current  of  his 
pilgrimage.  The  shadow  fell,  indeed,  on  what  seemed  the 
meridian  of  his  industry  and  usefulness  ;  but,  hardly  resting 
upon  his  consciousness,  we  doubt  not  that  it  was  merged  in 
the  dawning  of  a  brighter  day. 


LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  PLUMER. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE    YOUTH. 

WILLIAM  PLUMER  was  tlie  fifth  in  descent  from 
Francis  Plumer,  who  took  the  freeman's  oath  at 
Boston,  May  14,  1634.  Francis  came  to  Massachu 
setts  with  a  company  of  emigrants  from  the  west  of 
England,  and  settled,  in  1635,  at  Newbury,  of  which 
town  he  was  one  of  the  original  grantees.  He  is  the 
common  ancestor  of  all  the  Plumers  in  this  country, 
whose  descent  I  have  been  able  to  trace ;  and  was 
himself  descended  from  the  ancient  family  of  the 
Plumers  in  England,  which,  from  the  period  of  the 
Barons'  wars,  has  always  maintained  a  respectable 
standing  among  the  gentry  of  that  country.  The 
Plumers  of  Georgia,  the  two  Carolinas,  and  Mary 
land,  are  of  the  same  stock.  George  Plumer  and 
Arnold  Plumer,  late  members  of  Congress  from  Penn 
sylvania,  and  Franklin  Plumer,  late  member  from 


Z  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

Mississippi,  are  descendants  of  Francis  Plumer,  as  are 
also  the  Plumers  of  New  Hampshire,  Maine,  and  the 
other  New  England  States.  The  land  in  Newbury, 
where  Francis  originally  settled,  and  on  which  a 
house,  said  to  have  been  built  by  him,  was,  a  few 
years  since,  standing,  and  perhaps  still  is,  has  remained 
in  the  family  since  its  first  acquisition ;  and  is  now 
held,  in  the  eighth  generation,  by  a  direct  descendant 
of  the  original  proprietor.  Such  continued  possession 
of  the  same  property  is  not  uncommon  in  Europe ; 
but,  in  this  country  of  emigrant  habits  and  restless 
adventure,  the  Plumers  of  Newbury  form  a  rare  excep 
tion  to  that  general  love  of  change,  which  has  filled 
every  State  in  the  Union  with  New  England  men, 
and  has  left  at  home  few  of  the  original  possessions 
of  the  Pilgrims  in  the  hands  of  their  immediate 
posterity.  Except  that  one  of  the  family  now  and  then 
represented  his  town  in  the  Legislature,  they  neither 
sought  nor  received  any  public  distinctions,  and  were 
chiefly  known  among  their  neighbors  as  honest  men, 
good  citizens,  and  industrious  cultivators  of  the  soil. 

Of  this  quiet  and  unambitious  family,  the  fourth 
in  descent  from  Francis,  was  Samuel  Plumer,  who 
was  born,  June  14,  1722.  He  was  married,  April  8? 
1755,  to  Mary  Dole,  a  descendant  of  one  of  the 
families  which  originally  settled,  and  still  cluster  in 
patriarchal  simplicity,  round  the  Green,  on  the  Parker 
river,  at  Newbury  Old  Town. 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER,  3 

Samuel  and  Mary  were  the  parents  of  six  children 
— three  sons  and  three  daughters — of  whom,  William, 
the  subject  of  this  memoir,  born  June  25,  1759,  was 
the  oldest.  His  father  had  removed  on  his  marriage 
to  what  is  now  Newburyport,  and  entered  largely,  for 
the  time  and  place  in  which  he  lived,  into  the  business 
of  shoe-making.  He  was  successful  in  business,  and 
happy  in  his  family  and  his  social  relations.  The 
shoe-manufacturers  of  that  day  sent  the  products  of 
their  labor  to  the  southern  colonies,  and  received  in 
return  corn  and  tobacco  from  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina.  The  disposal  of  these  goods  gave  them 
something  of  the  character  of  traders,  especially  in 
their  transactions  with  their  own  journeymen. 

My  grandfather  having  acquired  what,  with  his 
moderate  desires,  he  considered  a  decent  competency, 
purchased  a  farm  in  Epping,  New  Hampshire,  and, 
removing  thither  in  the  autumn  of  1768,  devoted 
himself  thenceforth  to  agricultural  pursuits.  Of  the 
personal  appearance  of  my  grandfather  at  this  time 
I  received,  some  fifty  years  later,  from  an  old  man, 
who  saAV  him  at  Newburyport,  a  description,  which 
may  be  worth  repeating  here,  as  exhibiting,  in  the 
dress  at  least,  a  contrast  sufficiently  striking  with  any 
thing  which  is  now  to  be  seen  in  the  same,  or  indeed  in 
any  other  place.  My  informant  met  him  one  Sunday 
morning,  going  with  his  family  to  church.  He  was 
dressed  in  a  large  full-bottomed  wig,  curled  and  pow- 


4  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK. 

dered,  and  surmounted  by  a  three-cornered  hat,  a 
scarlet  broadcloth  coat,  an  embroidered  vest,  buckskin 
breeches,  silk  stockings  and  velvet  shoes,  with  large 
silver  shoe  and  knee  buckles,  and  an  ivory-headed 
cane.  But  what  most  struck  my  informant,  who  was 
a  stranger  to  him,  was  the  tall  and  commanding  figure, 
the  athletic  strength,  and  manly  beauty  of  the  person 
whom  he  met,  the  noblest  looking  man,  as  he  said, 
whom  he  had  ever  seen.  That  Samuel  Plumer  was 
a  man  of  great  bodily  strength  and  activity,  many 
stories,  still  current,  sufficiently  testify.  Of  his  fine 
personal  appearance,  even  in  old  age,  I  retain  myself 
a  distinct  recollection.  In  his  younger  days,  and  even 
at  a  later  period,  he  excelled  in  all  manly  exercises, 
and  neither  in  Newburyport,  nor  in  Epping,  did  he 
find  any  superior,  and  seldom  an  equal,  in  the  sports 
then  common  at  raisings,  trainings  and  Thanksgivings, 
of  pitching  quoits,  shooting,  lifting  at  the  bar,  running, 
leaping,  and  wrestling.  At  Epping,  his  chief  compet 
itor  in  these  hardy  sports,  was  Henry  Dearborn, 
afterwards  a  member  of  Congress  from  Maine,  Secre 
tary  of  War  under  Jefferson,  and  Commander-in-Chief 
on  the  northern  frontier  in  the  war  of  1812.  Dear 
born  possessed  uncommon  strength  and  activity,  and 
was,  besides,  a  much  younger  man ;  but,  with  even 
these  advantages,  he  was  seldom  successful  against 
the  practised  skill  and  unimpaired  strength  of  his 
older,  but  not  less  robust  and  sinewy  antagonist.  In 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER.  0 

their  last  wrestling  match,  on  the  occasion  of  raising 
a  new  meeting-house  in  Epping,  Dearborn  brought  his 
opponent  once  upon  his  knee,  but  was  himself  twice 
thrown,  first  forward  on  his  side,  and,  at  the  last  trial, 
fairly  on  his  back,  leaving  his  rival  victorious  in  the 
ring,  with  no  one  disposed  to  dispute  with  him  the  hon 
ors  of  victory.  It  was  in  these  rustic,  but  heroic  games, 
that  the  youth  of  New  England  acquired  the  strength, 
the  dexterity,  and  the  courage,  which  swept  before 
their  onset  the  disciplined  valor  of  the  British  soldiery, 
and  gave  independence  to  their  country.  This  great 
bodily  strength  of  my  grandfather  did  not  descend 
to  any  of  his  sons,  unless,  indeed,  some  portion  of  it 
might  have  come  to  them  in  the  form  of  an  unusual 
strength  and  tenacity  of  life ;  the  average  age  of  the 
three  brothers  being  about  eighty-six  years. 

His  oldest  son  possessed,  with  his  length  of  days,  a 
power  of  application  and  of  endurance,  which  enabled 
him,  though  often  in  feeble  health,  and  never  strong, 
to  perform  a  greater  amount  of  labor,  manual  and 
intellectual,  continued  for  many  years  in  succession, 
through  more  hours  every  day,  till  he  was  past  his 
eighty-fifth  year,  than  any  other  person  I  ever 
knew.  Young  as  he  was  when  the  removal  to 
Epping  made  him  thenceforth  an  inhabitant  of 
New  Hampshire,  he  ever  after  retained  a  grateful 
recollection  of  the  place  of  his  birth,  and  a  strong 
attachment  to  his  native  state.  Of  events  which 


6  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

occurred  before  he  left  Newburyport,  little  is  now 
known  concerning  his  early  life,  which  is  worth  relat 
ing  here.  A  few  circumstances  may,  however,  be 
mentioned,  as  either  characteristic  of  the  times,  or 
of  the  individual. 

He  was  so  feeble  an  infant,  that  there  seemed,  at 
first,  little  hope  of  his  reaching  manhood;  but  he 
gained  strength  with  advancing  years,  and  was  soon 
distinguished  as  a  lively,  quick-witted  boy,  full  of 
sprightliness  and  activity,  observant  of  passing  events, 
and  ready  alike  for  study  and  for  play.  His  public 
instructor,  noted  in  the  history  of  Newburyport  for 
his  long  and  faithful  service  in  his  avocation,  wras 
Stephen  Sewall,  an  old  man,  whom  he  described  as 
precise  and  formal  in  his  manners,  but  of  great  kind 
ness  of  heart,  and  wholly  devoted  to  his  pupils.  He 
teamed  of  Sewall  to  read,  write,  and  spell,  but  was 
not  taught  grammar  either  then,  or  at  any  subsequent 
period.  Sewall  advised  his  father  to  give  him  a  col 
legiate  education.  This  advice  was  earnestly  enforced 
;>by  the  clergyman  of  the  parish,  who  said  that  the  boy 
would  pay  well  for  any  expense  in  that  line  which 
might  be  bestowed  upon  him.  But  his  father,  who, 
though  a  man  of  strong  sense,  was  little  aware  of  the 
value  of  a  good  education,  said,  that  besides  the 
^expense,  wrhich  was  greater  than  he  could  bestow  on 
.all  his  boys,  such  a  course  would  unfit  his  son  for 
the  agricultural  pursuits  to  which,  in  his  own  mind,  he 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  7 

had,  even  then,  already  devoted  him.  Another  answer 
which  he  sometimes  gave,  when  pressed  on  the  sub 
ject,  was,  that  William  had  wit  enough  to  find  his  way 
in  the  world,  without  the  help  of  college  guides, 
not  reflecting  that  the  stronger  his  native  powers, 
the  more  worthy  they  were  of  being  improved  by  the 
best  culture  they  could  receive.  It  is  the  more  to  be 
regretted  that  this  advice  was  not  followed,  as  we  may 
be  sure  that  he  would  have  improved  to  the  utmost 
whatever  advantages  the  college  might  have  afforded 
him. 

These,  indeed,  at  the  time  when  he  would  have 
been  there,  were  not  great.  Inter  anna  silent  musce. 
The  college  buildings  were,  about  the  time  when  the 
youth  would  have  been  prepared  to  seek  their  shelter, 
turned  into  barracks  for  the  soldiers  of  Washington, 
then  encamped  at  Cambridge,  for  the  siege  of  Boston. 

The  clergyman  whose  advice  was  thus  rejected  was 
Jonathan  Parsons,  a  divine  distinguished  for  classical 
attainments,  theological  learning,  and  great  power  as 
a  preacher.  My  father  used  to  tell  of  a  discourse 
which  he  delivered  against  one  Smith,  a  Baptist 
preacher,  who  came  from  Haverhill,  to  make  prose 
lytes  among  Parsons's  parishioners.  The  text  was,  "  I 
have  created  the  Smith  that  bloweth  the  coals."  The 
doctrine  deduced  was,  that  "  all  things,  utterly  worth 
less  as  many  of  them  are,  proceeded  from  the  Lord, 
even,"  added  he,  raising  his  voice  and  pointing  to  his 


8  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

opponent,  who  was  present,  u  the  Smith  who  bloweth 
the  coals  of  strife,  and  heresy,  and  all  ungodliness 
among  us."  Smith  replied  the  next  Sunday  with 
some  text  equally  quaint,  and,  no  doubt,  equally  to 
the  purpose,  though  I  do  not  now  remember  what  it 
was.  These  turns  of  Puritanical  wit  were  then  com 
mon  in  the  pulpit,  and  much  admired  by  the  audience. 
They  were  scarcely  less  common  among  lawyers  at 
the  bar,  and  with  judges  on  the  bench.  Mr.  Plumer, 
at  a  later  period,  excelled  in  them,  and  was  never  at 
a  loss  for  apt  quotations  from  the  Scriptures. 

Another  incident  of  this  period  carried  with  it  a 
lesson  of  high  moral  import.  A  boy  of  his  acquaint 
ance  persuaded  him  to  buy  a  bird  of  him,  and  told 
him,  as  he  was  without  money,  that  there  would  be 
no  harm  in  taking  the  pistareen,  which  was  the  price, 
from  his  father's  desk,  as  the  bird  was  wrorth  much 
more  than  the  money.  His  desire  to  possess  so 
tempting  an  object  gave  such  an  appearance  of  truth 
to  this  juvenile  sophistry,  that  he  went  to  the  desk, 
took  the  money,  and  was  soon  on  his  way  home  with 
the  bird.  The  joy  which  this  acquisition  gave  him 
was  however  turned,  as  he  approached  the  house,  into 
doubt  and  apprehension ;  and,  carrying  the  bird  to 
his  mother,  he  told  her  the  whole  story,  and  asked 
what  he  should  do.  She  took  him  at  once  to  his  father, 
who  explained  to  him,  in  no  gentle  terms,  the  guilt 
which  he  had  incurred,  and  the  punishment,  as  well 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  9 

as  the  disgrace,  which  such  conduct  must  bring  upon 
him.  He  then  ordered  him  to  carry  back  the  bird  to 
the  boy  who  had  been  his  tempter.  This  he  did 
though  with  some  reluctance,  mortified  by  the  ridicule 
he  knew  he  should  incur,  and  shedding  tears  at  the 
loss  of  his  beautiful  bird.  When  he  returned  and 
reported  that,  though  he  had  given  up  the  bird,  he 
could  not  get  back  the  money,  his  father  said,  "  So 
much  the  better,  William,  so  much  the  better;  this 
will  teach  you  that  dishonesty  never  prospers."  "  I 
was  only  six  years  old/'  said  Mr.  Plumer,  in  relating 
this  incident,  "  when  this  took  place,  but  it  fixed  too 
deeply  in  my  mind  the  distinction  between  mine  and 
thine,  the  meum  and  tiium  of  the  law,  to  make  any  new 
light  necessary  for  me  from  Blackstone  or  Paley, 
from  lawyer  or  divine,  on  that  subject ;  and  if  in  after 
life,  no  man  ever  charged  me  with  dishonesty  in  any 
money  transaction,  it  was  owing  not  a  little  to  this 
early  lesson  on  the  rights  of  property,  which  my 
father  impressed  upon  me  so  effectually  in  this  matter 
of  the  bird  and  the  pistareen." 

One  more  incident,  and  we  shall  be  prepared  to 
accompany  the  boy  to  the  quiet  seclusion  of  his 
country  life  in  Epping.  Among  things  which  in  after 
life  he  remembered  to  have  seen  before  leaving  New- 
buryport,  was  the  passage  of  John  Wentworth,  the 
last  royal  governor  of  New  Hampshire,  through  that 
place,  on  his  way  to  Portsmouth.  This  was  in  June, 


10  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

1767.  Wentworth  had  landed  at  Charleston,  South 
Carolina,  and  had  made  the  tour  of  the  colonies,  as 
Surveyor  General  of  the  King's  woods  in  America. 
When  he  reached  Newburyport,  the  whole  town 
thronged  his  way,  as,  accompanied  by  the  chief  inhab 
itants,  he  rode  on  horseback  through  the  main  street, 
with  his  hat  in  his  hand,  bowing  gracefully  to  the 
salutations  of  a  loyal  and  admiring  people.  The  sight 
was  one  which  a  boy  of  eight  years  old  was  not  likely 
to  miss,  or,  when  once  seen,  to  forget.  Yet  the  child, 
who,  with  eager  curiosity,  climbed  the  fence  that  he 
might  have  a  better  view  of  the  great  man  as  he  passed, 
could  hardly  have  foreseen  that  the  Province  of  New 
Hampshire,  of  which  he  then  perhaps  heard  for  the 
first  time,  would  within  ten  years  become  an  inde 
pendent  State  ;  and  that,  in  a  few  years  more,  he 
would  himself  be  chosen  to  this  same  office  of  Gover 
nor  of  New  Hampshire,  and  be  conducted  to  its 
capitol  with  more  parade,  and  a  larger  escort  than 
now  attended  the  honored  representative  of  the  maj 
esty  of  England. 

The  characters  of  men  depend  so  much  upon  the 
circumstances  in  which  they  are  placed,  and  the  state 
of  society  around  them,  that  without  some  knowledge 
of  these  we  cannot  do  justice  to  their  motives,  or 
judge  fairly  of  their  conduct.  Among  the  essays 
which  my  father  proposed  to  write,  but  for  which  he  did 
not  find  time,  was  one  on  the  changes  which  had  taken 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  11 

place  in  the  world  within  the  period  of  his  recollec 
tion.  "  Where,"  says  Young,  "  is  the  world  in  which 
a  man  was  born  ?  "  The  proposed  essay,  if  written, 
would  have  exhibited  the  world,  into  which  the  sub 
ject  of  this  memoir  was  born,  in  strong  contrast  with 
that  very  different  world  in  which  he  closed  his  days. 
It  would  lead  us  too  far  from  our  present  theme  to 
attempt  any  such  exhibition.  A  few  facts  only  will 
be  here  noticed,  which  may  serve  to  remind  the  reader 
of  some  of  the  most  important  changes  which  hap 
pened  within  the  period  of  Mr.  Plumer's  life,  and  of 
the  influences  which,  whether  for  good  or  evil,  bore 
upon  him  from  the  times,  and  the  society  in  which  he 
lived.  The  ninety  years  of  his  life  were  perhaps  the 
most  eventful  period  in  the  history  of  mankind ;  and 
though  his  agency  in  these  great  transactions  may,  on 
a  large  scale,  be  said  to  be  little  or  nothing,  the 
influence  on  him  was  not  the  less  real  of  events  which 
transformed  the  whole  aspect  of  society.  It  was  his 
fortune  to  live  in  an  age  of  unprecedented  change 
and  revolution  ;  of  hope,  expectation,  and  alarm ;  of 
progress,  demolition,  and  reconstruction  ;  in  which  the 
elements  of  society  were  convulsed,  and  the  founda 
tions  of  long  established  opinions  shaken,  or  over 
thrown.  The  strongest  minds  did  not  escape  the 
agitation  of  the  storm ;  the  weak  were  swept  help 
lessly  before  it.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  American 
Independence,  and  the  French  Revolution,  the  empire 


12  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

of   Napoleon,    and    the     emancipation    of    Spanish 
America,  occurred  within  this  period. 

Epping,  then,  as  now,  a  small  country  town,  was 
originally  a  part  of  Exeter,  from  which  it  wras  sepa 
rated  in  1741.  "With  one  thousand  four  hundred  and 
ten  inhabitants,  it  was  the  fifth  town  in  population  in 
the  province.  The  inhabitants  were  devoted  almost 
exclusively  to  agriculture  and  the  lumber  business. 
They  sent  their  lumber  either  to  Exeter  or  New 
Market,  and  thence  through  Portsmouth  to  the  West 
Indies,  or  to  England ;  whence  they  received  in  return 
the  few  foreign  commodities  which  their  simple  hab 
its  required,  and  the  little  money  necessary  to  pay 
their  taxes.  On  one  occasion,  the  collector  gave 
notice  that  he  wrould  receive  the  taxes  in  lumber,  if 
delivered  by  a  given  day  in  March.  On  the  day 
appointed,  the  lumber  came  in  from  all  parts  of  the 
town ;  and  the  collector  started  with  it  for  Exeter, 
with  forty  teams,  and  more  than  a  hundred  yoke  of 
oxen,  with  drums  beating,  colors  flying,  and  with  a 
small  cask  of  West  India  rum  mounted  conspicuously 
on  the  foremost  load.  Cornet  Perkins  and  Ensign 
Rundlett,  who,  as  military  men,  were  more  honored 
in  their  day  than  major-generals  of  militia  are  in  ours, 
headed  the  procession,  and,  after  astonishing  the  good 
people  of  the  parent  town  with  this  rustic  display, 
brought  back  their  wiiole  company,  as  Deacon 
Wheeler  said,  in  very  decent  order.  Some  of  the 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  13 

men,  indeed,  found  it  convenient  to  ride  on  their 
sleds,  holding  on  manfully,  but  laboriously,  by  the 
chains,  instead  of  walking  briskly  by  the  side  of  their 
oxen,  as  in  the  morning.  But  for  this,  the  labors  of 
the  day  might  have  seemed  some  excuse,  if  the  cask, 
now  empty  and  dangling  in  the  chains,  had  not  sug 
gested  a  more  obvious  reason.  This  excursion  was 
not,  however,  an  ordinary  occurrence ;  and,  in  gen 
eral,  the  prudence,  sobriety,  and  frugality  of  this 
hardy  and  industrious  people  were  worthy  of  all 
commendation. 

Of  many  interesting  topics,  which  now  occupy  the 
village  gossip,  they  knew  little  ;  of  some,  nothing. 
Politics  seldom  disturbed  their  quiet.  They  had, 
indeed,  occasionally  to  choose  a  member  of  the 
Assembly  •  and  this  wras  not  always  very  easily  done, 
as  it  was  sometimes  hard  to  persuade  one  of  the  two 
or  three  who  were  alone  thought  fit  for  the  place  to 
accept  the  trust. 

With  religious  discussions,  growing  out  of  the  ex 
istence  of  different  sects  in  the  town,  they  had,  thus 
far,  been  little  troubled.  There  were  a  few  Quakers 
on  the  south-western  border  of  the  town,  and  one  of 
them  had  been  once  sent  to  jail  for  refusing  to  pay 
the  parish  tax,  but,  with  this  slight  exception,  the 
whole  people  attended  the  Congregational  Church, 
whose  minister  was  supported  by  a  town  tax. 

The  clergyman,  wrho  thus  united  the  town  under 


14  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

his  charge,  was  the  Rev.  Josiah  Stearns,  a  graduate 
of  Harvard  College,  a  worthy  pastor,  and,  in  general, 
very  acceptable  as  a  preacher.  His  orthodoxy  was, 
however,  so  strict  as  sometimes  to  give  offence,  even 
in  those  days  of  ready  acquiescence,  and  of  deferential 
respect  for  the  clergy ;  nor  did  it  always  show  itself, 
as  some  of  his  parishioners  thought,  on  the  most 
appropriate  occasions.  At  the  funerals  of  infants,  for 
instance,  he  took  especial  care  to  remind  the  parents 
that  the  penalty  of  Adam's  sin  rested  as  heavily  on 
children  as  on  adults,  and  that  there  were  thousands 
of  infants  in  hell  who  had  died  so  young  that  they 
could  not  "  discern  their  right  hand  from  their  left." 
This  expression,  which  my  father  heard  him  repeat 
edly  use,  was  characteristic,  not  so  much  of  the  man 
as  of  the  times. 

The  inhabitants  of  Epping  generally  were  on  a 
footing  of  great  equality  as  to  property ;  none  rich, 
and  none  very  poor.  Nearly  every  head  of  a  family 
was  a  land  owner.  Money  was  scarce,  but  provisions 
were  cheap,  and  labor  always  in  demand. 

It  was  to  this  quiet  country  town  that  Samuel 
Plumer  retired  with  his  family  in  the  autumn  of  1768, 
to  spend  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  those  agricul 
tural  pursuits  to  which  his  youth  had  been  devoted, 
and  to  which  his  thoughts  had  always  fondly  turned. 
His  eldest  son  was,  at  this  time,  in  his  tenth  year ; 
and,  as  the  farm  was  to  be  the  scene  of  his  exertions, 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  15 

he  was  early  trained  to  its  labors.  Of  this  period  of 
his  life,  little  is  now  known  which  it  would  be  of 
interest  to  relate.  Boys  of  his  age,  however,  learn 
much  from  those  around  them,  and  receive  impres 
sions  which  influence  largely  and  lastingly  their 
future  characters  and  conduct. 

His  situation  was  in  many  respects  favorable.  Few 
temptations  to  idleness  or  immorality  were  thrown  in 
his  way,  and  the  parental  influences  were  all  on  the 
side  of  virtue,  of  regular  industry,  steady  habits,  and 
quiet  and  orderly  demeanor.  His  mother  was  a 
woman  of  great  good  sense,  of  a  serene  and  cheerful 
disposition,  and  of  the  tenderest  maternal  solicitude. 
His  father,  who  was  regular  in  his  habits,  assiduous 
in  business,  and  strict  in  all  religious  observances, 
was  prompt  to  notice  any  impropriety,  and  checked 
at  once  the  slightest  deviation  from  the  right  in  his 
children.  All  the  reasonable  wants  of  his  son  were 
anticipated  by  provident  forethought,  while  his  way 
ward  humors  and  his  idle  griefs,  his  childish  sorrows 
and  his  boyish  disappointments  (for  even  he  sometimes 
tasted  "  that  root  of  bitterness  wherewith  the  whole 
fruitage  of  our  life  is  mingled  and  tempered,")  were 
soothed  and  relieved,  and  often  changed  into  pleas 
ure,  as  dark  clouds  grow  bright  as  they  approach  the 
moon,  by  the  cheerful  disposition,  the  earnest  good 
will,  and  unwearied  assiduity,  of  a  pious  and  loving 
mother.  This  union  of  authority  with  indulgence — of 


16  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

the  father's  regularity  with  the  mother's  tenderness — 
early  formed  him  to  habits  of  industry  and  self-control 
on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other,  to  kindness,  liber 
ality,  and  thoughtfulness  for  the  wants  and  the 
wishes  of  others.  In  the  rough  and  gregarious  sports 
of  youth  he  took  little  part ;  yet  his  temper  was 
social,  and  with  a  chosen  few  he  was  intimate  and 
familiar.  With  little  variety  of  incident,  or  change  of 
pursuit,  passed  the  first  few  years  of  his  life  in  Epping. 
Labor  in  the  open  field,  regular  but  not  excessive, 
gave  strength  to  his  bodily  frame,  while  the  simple 
diet  of  his  father's  table  left  his  mind  clear  and 
unclouded  for  his  hours  of  study,  and  free  and  cheer 
ful  in  his  moments  of  relaxation. 

Yet  even  in  this  happy  seclusion,  and  at  this  early 
period,  he  felt,  with  daily  increasing  force,  one  want 
not  easily  supplied, — that  thirst  for  knowledge,  in  his 
situation  unattainable,  and  in  none  ever  perfectly 
obtained,  which  is  characteristic  of  all  active  and 
inquisitive  minds,  and  without  which  little  real 
progress  is  ever  made.  His  eager  desire  to  under 
stand  whatever  fell  under  his  notice,  or  occurred  to 
his  thoughts,  found  no  adequate  gratification  in  the 
knowledge  or  the  capacity  of  those  around  him.  He 
was  never  tired  of  putting  questions,  which  they 
could  not  answer.  Questions  indeed  there  are  without 
number,  questions  as  to  man's  origin  and  his  destiny, 
his  rights  and  his  duties,  which  youth  in  its  ignorance 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  17 

can  ask,  but  which  even  age  in  its  wisdom  cannot 
answer.  With  some  of  these,  involving  high  consid 
erations  of  a  metaphysical,  moral,  and  religious  nature, 
he  early  puzzled  himself  and  embarrassed  others. 
Even  the  minister,  looked  up  to  with  awe  as  an  oracle, 
could  not  always  solve  the  doubts  of  the  young 
inquirer,  but  sought  to  repress  by  authority,  rather 
than  to  satisfy  by  facts  and  reasonings  his  pertinacious 
inquisitiveness.  His  father  had  few  books  of  much 
value,  except  the  Bible  and  the  Morals  of  Epictetus, 
The  Bible,  read  through  and  through  in  the  daily 
service,  suggested  thoughts  that  often  brought  him 
home  from  the  fields  with  a  string  of  doubts  and 
queries,  which  there  was  no  commentator  at  hand  to 
explain.  The  study  of  Epictetus,  early  and  assidu 
ously  pursued,  while  he  had  as  yet  few  other  books 
to  read,  gave,  by  its  lessons  of  severe  virtue  and  stern 
endurance,  something  of  a  stoical  turn,  heathen 
rather  than  Christian,  to  his  cast  of  thought,  strict 
ness  of  moral  principles,  and  an  energy  and  decision 
of  character,  which  remained  with  him  to  the  close 
of  life. 

It  cannot  be  doubted  that  these  two  books,  long 
and  almost  exclusively  studied,  entered  largely  into 
the  formation  of  his  moral  character,  and  moulded 
strongly  the  peculiarities  of  his  mind. 

In  the  mean  time,  his  instruction  at  the  town 
school  could  have  added  little  to  the  knowledge 


18  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

which  he  brought  with  him  from  Newburyport.  The 
ample  list  of  arts  and  sciences  which  our  town 
schools  now  profess  to  teach  was  unknown  to  the 
pedagogues  of  that  day.  Their  curriculum  embraced 
little  more  than  the  elements  of  reading,  writing,  and 
arithmetic,  and  in  these  their  promise  of  instruction 
went  far  beyond  any  adequate  performance. 

The  school  was  not  kept  more  than  ten  or  twelve 
weeks  in  the  year,  and,  even  then,  the  labors  of  the 
field,  in  seed  time  and  harvest,  were  deemed  of  more 
value  than  what  the  schoolmaster  could  impart. 
"  My  father,"  he  said  to  me  many  years  after,  "  was  a 
careful  and  indulgent  parent,  but  he  thought  more  of 
money  than  of  knowledge."  Yet  under  all  these 
disadvantages,  as  the  young  student  brought  with  him 
a  ready  apprehension,  and  a  keen  appetite  for  knowl 
edge,  his  progress  was  gratifying  to  himself  and 
pleasing  to  his  friends.  I  conversed  some  years  since 
with  an  old  man  who  remembered  him  when  they 
were  scholars  together  in  the  schoolhouse,  on  Red 
Oak  Hill.  He  represented  my  father  as  learning 
faster  and  more  easily  than  any  of  his  mates,  and 
as  going  far  before  them  in  all  that  was  taught 
there.  He  excelled  in  arithmetic,  and  would  some 
times  carry  up  to  the  master,  who  prided  himself  on 
his  ciphering,  a  sum  of  his  own  stating.  The  teacher, 
after  looking  at  it  for  a  while,  would  say,  "  I  am  busy 
now,  but  will  show  you  how  it  is  done  some  other 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER.  19 

time."  As  this  other  time  never  came,  and  the  boy 
was  himself  able  to  do  the  sum,  his  companions  were 
not  long  in  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  he  knew 
more  than  the  master. 

The  vanity,  which  this  might  have  fostered  in  him, 
was  checked  by  a  deep  sense  of  the  little,  after  all, 
which  he  knew,  and  the  much  which  was  beyond  his 
reach.  All  knowledge  is  comparative,  and  his  was 
not  great.  His  ciphering  book,  (a  quarto  of  ninety-six 
pages,)  is  now  before  me.  It  begins  with  notation, 
and  ends  with  the  square  root.  It  is  written  in  a 
strong,  plain  hand,  free  from  blots,  and  carefully  fin 
ished  in  every  part,  but  with  no  attempt  at  ornament 
and  no  unnecessary  flourish.  In  these  respects,  it  not 
inaptly  represented  the  character  of  its  author's 
mind,  which  was  strong,  clear,  well  defined,  without 
ostentation  or  parade,  useful  in  its  aims,  and  practical 
in  its  results.  His  old  school-mate  said  to  me,  on  the 
occasion  of  this  conversation:  "Your  father  had  the 
five  talents  of  Scripture  parable,  and  he  was  never 
charged  with  hiding  one  of  them  in  a  napkin." 

He  ceased  going  to  school  when  he  was  in  his  sev 
enteenth  year,  and  wras  afterward  his  own  instructor. 
Books  had  now  become  the  great  objects  of  his  desire, 
and  were,  from  that  time,  his  never-failing  compan 
ions.  He  soon  exhausted  the  scanty  supply  of  his 
neighbors  and  friends,  and  "  whate'er  the  minister's 
old  shelf  supplied."  Newspapers  were  then  hardly 


20  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

known  in  the  circle  where  he  moved.  Pamphlets 
were  scarce,  and  confined  mostly  to  religious  topics, 
the  occasional  sermon,  the  controversial  tract,  or  the 
painful  experience  of  some  Christian  professor  •  or, 
what  was  more  attractive,  the  narrative  of  some 
Indian  captivity,  or  wild  sea  adventure,  or  shipwreck, 
the  capture  of  a  Spanish  galleon,  or  the  death  of  Capt. 
Kidd.  Bound  volumes  were  still  more  rare  ;  and  of 
those  which  he  could  obtain  few  were  of  much  value. 
He  used,  however,  to  say  that  no  hook  is  so  poor  but 
some  good  may  be  drawn  from  it — some  fact  for  the 
memory,  or  some  stimulant  to  thought.  The  meanest 
flower  has  a  drop  of  honey,  if  the  bee  can  but  find 
it.  He  was  indefatigable  on  the  wing  in  search  of 
such  sweets.  If  he  heard  of  a  book,  within  many 
miles  of  his  home,  he  could  not  rest  till  he  had  visited 
its  privileged  owner,  and  obtained  the  loan  of  it. 
He  often  went  great  distances  on  foot  to  borrow  a 
book,  of  which  he  had  heard,  perhaps,  only  the  title, 
from  a  person  he  had  never  seen. 

It  is  easy  to  imagine  the  appearance  on  such 
occasions  of  the  earnest  and  inquisitive  youth,  as, 
travel-soiled  and  weary  with  long  walking,  he  pre 
sented  himself  to  the  stranger  whom  he  visited,  with 
an  ingenuous  countenance,  and  a  manly  address, 
stating  the  object  of  his  call,  and  soliciting  the  favor 
which,  though  trifling  in  itself,  was  more  dear  to  him 
than  the  richest  gifts  could  have  been.  He  often 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  21 

obtained  more  than  the  single  volume  he  sought ;  and 
these  loans,  besides  making  him  acquainted  with 
their  owners,  gave  him  more  real  and  lasting  pleasure 
than  the  wealth  or  honors  which  afterwards  came  to 
reward  his  labors.  Many  were  the  long  walks  which 
he  took  for  this  purpose  ;  and  he  remembered  with 
gratitude,  to  the  close  of  life,  these  early  benefactors. 
Such  was  his  impatience  that  he  could  not  always 
wait  till  his  return  to  examine  his  treasures.  Night 
more  than  once  surprised  him,  while  seated  in  some 
retired  spot  by  the  wayside,  reading  the  book  he  had 
borrowed.  This  first  hasty  perusal  was  not,  however, 
the  last  that  he  gave  it.  Books  obtained  with  such 
difficulty  were  read  with  attention,  and  thoroughly 
digested,  till,  when  he  returned  them,  all  that  was 
worth  noting  in  them  had  fixed  itself  in  his  memory. 
He  retained  to  the  close  of  life  many  facts  and 
ideas  which  had  been  thus  early  and  indelibly 
impressed  on  his  mind.  The  scarcity  of  books  led  him 
involuntarily  to  practise  on  the  old  maxim  of  read 
ing  much,  rather  than  many  things.  Want  of  variety 
and  comprehensiveness  was  probably  more  than 
compensated,  in  this  case,  by  the  precision  and  accu 
racy  which  he  thus  attained.  What  he  knew  at  all 
he  knew  weh1  and  thoroughly,  so  far  as  his  means  of 
information  went.  Suffering,  as  we  do,  in  this  age  of 
repletion,  from  the  multitude  of  books,  loading  every 
shelf  and  table,  and  pressing  with  importunate  clamor 


22  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

on  our  attention,  it  is  not  easy  for  us  to  understand 
the  difficulties  which  he  encountered,  or  sufficiently 
to  admire  that  passionate  love  of  learning,  that  noble 
avarice  of  books  which  made  him  deny  himself  any 
possession  rather  than  miss  those  rare  treasures  of  the 
mind  which  Milton  has  so  nobly  described,  "  as  the 
precious  life  blood  of  a  master  spirit,  embalmed  and 
treasured  up  on  purpose  to  a  life  beyond  life."  Few 
indeed  were  the  works  of  master  spirits  to  which  he 
had  at  this  time  access,  but  he  sought  them  far  and 
wide,  and  used  diligently  whatever  he  could  obtain. 
When  he  had  read  all  within  his  reach,  he  went  back 
again  to  reperuse  and  analyze  what  he  had  acquired, 
and  to  compare  other  men's  thoughts  with  his  own. 
As  the  advantages  of  a  liberal  education  were  denied 
him,  it  is  not  perhaps  much  to  be  regretted  that  he 
had  access  to  so  few  books.  A  greater  number  might 
have  led  to  more  careless  reading,  and  impaired  per 
haps  the  originality,  if  not  the  vigor  of  his  powers. 
Hobbs  said,  somewhat  arrogantly,  that  "  if  he  had 
read  as  much  as  other  men  he  should  have  known  as 
little."  As  his  other  occupations  left  him  little  time 
for  study,  my  father  early  formed  the  habit,  which  he 
preserved  through  life,  of  having  a  book  always  with 
him,  and  of  reading  at  those  leisure  moments  when 
others  were  waiting,  impatiently  perhaps,  for  their 
meals,  or  fretting  on  trivial  occasions  at  inevita 
ble  delay,  or  engaged,  at  best,  in  idle  conversation. 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  23 

He  never  found  these  moments  so  short  but  he  could 
open  a  book,  and  draw  from  it  some  fact  to  be  remem 
bered,  or  some  thought  for  reflection.  That  this  read 
ing  was  not  a  mere  passing  of  the  time,  a  dreamy 
pleasure  without  improvement,  as  is  often  the  case, 
appeared  from  the  result  of  his  studies,  and  the  turn, 
eminently  practical,  of  his  mind.  The  habit  thus 
early  formed  of  reading  when  not  otherwise  employed 
continued  with  him  through  life.  He  took  a  book 
with  him  whenever  he  went  from  home  ;  and  many 
were  the  volumes  which  he  read  on  horseback.  At 
a  later  period,  when  I  used  to  ride  with  him  in  his 
chaise,  he  would  give  me  the  reins,  and  read  aloud 
from  some  volume  of  history,  biography,  or  morals, 
mingling  with  his  reading  remarks  for  my  instruction. 


CHAPTER     II. 

THE    PREACHER    AND    THE    SCEPTIC. 

MORALS  and  religion,  the  duties  of  man  to  his  Cre 
ator,  to  himself,  and  to  his  fellow-men,  have  relations 
so  extensive  with  character  and  conduct,  that  no 
man's  life  can  be  considered  complete  which  does  not 
contain  some  account  of  him  in  reference  to  this  sub 
ject.  I  have  made,  in  the  preceding  chapter,  some 
slight  reference  to  religious  opinions,  as  held  in  Mr. 
Plumer's  younger  days,  in  the  circle  of  his  more 
immediate  acquaintance. 

With  his  eager  thirst  for  knowledge  of  all  kinds, 
religion  could  not  but  attract  a  share  of  his  attention, 
and  on  this,  as  on  other  subjects,  he  early  displayed 
that  boldness  of  thought,  which,  in  the  pursuit  of 
knowledge,  is  regardless  of  consequences,  and  intent 
only  on  the  acquisition  of  truth,  as  the  reward  of 
inquiry.  His  boyish  curiosity,  however,  soon  sub 
sided  into  comparative  indifference.  But,  in  the 
spring  of  1779,  he  experienced  a  new  and  more  pow 
erful  religious  emotion.  His  father  had  joined  the 
Baptist  Society  in  Epping,  and  it  was  here  that  his 
son  now  attended  meeting.  The  pastor  of  this  church, 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  25 

Samuel  Shepherd,  united  in  his  person  the  characters, 
then  not  uncommon,  of  physician  and  divine.  He 
was  the  third  Baptist  preacher  ever  ordained  in 
this  state,  and  his  church,  established  in  the  three 
towns  of  Epping,  Brentwood,  and  Stratham,  in  each 
of  which  he  had  a  meeting-house,  and  preached  suc 
cessively,  is  said  to  have  been  the  largest  ever  col 
lected  under  one  pastor  in  New  Hampshire.  Through 
a  wide  region  of  country  Dr.  Shepherd  was  followed 
and  admired  by  multitudes,  and,  everywhere,  revivals 
and  conversions  attested  the  power  of  his  preaching. 
Among  others,  Mr.  Plumer,  then  in  his  twentieth 
year,  attended  these  revival  meetings,  and  became  a 
convert  to  his  doctrines.  He  was  baptized  by  Shep 
herd,  in  May,  1779,  in  company  with  twenty  others, 
by  immersion  in  the  river  at  Nottingham.  From  a 
convert  he  became  first  an  exhorter,  and  then  a 
preacher,  though  never  regularly  ordained.  But  this 
ministry  was  not  destined  to  be  of  long  continuance. 
In  about  a  year  and  a  half  from  his  conversion, 
a  change  in  his  religious  belief  brought  him  back 
once  more  to  the  farm,  and  led  ultimately  to  the 
adoption  of  the  law  as  his  profession.  Of  this  part 
of  his  life,  he  has  left  among  his  papers  an  interesting 
account,  the  greater  portion  of  which  I  copy  here, 
as  likely  to  be  more  satisfactory  to  the  reader  than 
any  abstract  of  it  which  could  be  given. 


26  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEE. 

"  Early  in  the  spring  of  1779,  there  was  in  the  vicinity 
what  was  called  a  reformation.  Religious  meetings  were  fre 
quent  ;  the  people  were  deeply  and  zealously  engaged ;  enthu 
siasm  and  superstition  pervaded  the  assemblies,  and  spread 
from  mind  to  mind  like  a  contagious  disease,  or  like  a  fire  in 
a  forest  impelled  by  a  strong  wind.  I  attended  one  of  these 
meetings  with  a  disposition  to  consider  it  as  under  the  influ 
ence  of  a  supernatural  spirit.  On  entering  the  house,  the 
noise  and  confusion  of  the  worshippers,  their  cries  and 
contortions,  seemed  to  me  to  be  the  mere  ebullition  of  the 
passions.  But  such  is  the  force  of  example,  and  the  contagion 
of  feeling,  that,  before  I  was  well  aware,  I  too  shared  in  their 
emotions,  was  affected  deeply  by  their  fears,  and  alarmed  and 
agitated  beyond  measure  by  the  apprehension  of  that  ever 
lasting  misery  which  the  preacher  set  before  us,  in  such  lively 
colors,  as  the  inevitable  doom  of  every  unconverted  sinner. 
Though  before  conscious  of  no  peculiar  turpitude  or  depravity 
of  nature,  I  now  felt  that  my  heart  was  the  seat  of  all 
impurity,  and  that  I  deserved  the  punishment  which  seemed 
about  to  fall  upon  me. 

"  In  this  distress  of  mind,  I  could  neither  sleep,  nor  eat, 
and  my  strength  utterly  failed  me.  I  remained  in  this  state 
of  anxiety  and  alarm  for  the  space  of  ten  days  ;  when,  on  a 
sudden,  I  was  strongly  impressed  with  the  idea  that  God  had 
forgiven  my  sins.  This  at  once  relieved  my  distress,  and 
filled  me  with  transports  of  joy.  Though  I  had  been  baptized 
by  sprinkling  in  infancy,  I  was  now  baptized  by  immersion 
in  the  river,  making,  at  the  same  time,  a  public  declaration 
of  my  creed  and  my  experience ;  and  was  soon  after 
admitted  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church,  in  full  communion. 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  27 

I  now  devoted  from  four  to  eight  hours  a  day  to  the  study 
of  the  Bible,  to  prayer,  and  to  the  reading  of  religious  books. 
In  the  frequent  religious  meetings  which  I  attended,  I 
generally  took  a  part,  either  in  prayer,  or  in  an  address  or 
exhortation  to  the  people. 

"  Early  in  the  spring  of  1780,  I  entered  upon  the  work  of 
the  ministry,  by  becoming  a  preacher  of  the  Baptist  denom 
ination — not  by  the  advice  of  any  man  or  church,  but  from  a 
conviction  that  it  was  my  duty.  In  the  latter  part  of  that 
season,  and  the  first  of  the  summer,  I  travelled  through  the 
counties  of  Rockingham,  Hillsborough,  Strafford  and  Grafton, 
— four  out  of  the  five  counties  then  in  the  State.  This  tour 
occupied  more  than  six  weeks.  There  was  scarcely  a  day  but 
I  delivered  one,  and  often  two  sermons.  My  discourses, 
though  not  written,  were  studied  and  methodical^  and  deliv 
ered  with  ease  and  animation.  I  preached  to  others  what  I 
believed  myself,  and  recommended  religion  to  their  consid 
eration  with  zeal  and  pathos.  My  hearers  were  numerous, 
attentive,  and  serious  ;  and  many  of  them,  in  consequence  of 
my  preaching,  became  professors  of  religion.  After  my 
return,  I  preached  in  Epping  and  the  vicinity  ;  occasionally 
travelling  into  the  seaports  and  the  neighboring  towns. 

"In  these  discourses,  I  addressed  myself  chiefly  to  the 
understanding,  and  touched  the  passions  so  far  only  as  was 
necessary  to  gain  the  hearers'  attention.  I  had  larger  audiences 
than  any  other  preacher  in  the  same  places,  a  circumstance, 
doubtless,  owing  to  my  great  youth,  my  earnest  zeal,  and  the 
manifest  sincerity  of  my  convictions.  I  was  not  only  sincere 
in  my  belief,  but  disinterested  in  my  conduct ;  for  I  can  truly 
say  that,  during  the  whole  time  that  I  officiated  in  the  min- 


28  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

istry,  I  never  received  to  the  value  of  a  single  cent  from  any 
person  except  my  food  and  lodging  in  the  houses  I  visited, 
and  that  only  when  it  was  necessary.  I  set  apart,  and  strictly 
devoted  one  day  in  every  month  to  private  fasting  and  prayer 
in  my  chamber.  This  was  always  to  me  a  season  of  real 
enjoyment.  These  fasts,  besides  their  religious  uses,  invig 
orated  the  mind,  by  relieving  the  stomach  from  the  pressure 
of  heavy  meals,  and  gave  me  better  health  than  I  should  oth 
erwise  have  enjoyed.  This  practice  of  occasional  fasting  I 
have,  indeed,  continued  through  life,  as  a  sure  remedy  against 
many  bodily  complaints.  A  fast  of  one  or  two  days  has  often 
relieved  me  from  diseases,  which  it  might  have  taken  a  phy 
sician  a  month  to  cure.  It  was,  however,  for  health  of  mind 
rather  than  of  body,  that  I  now  resorted  to  these  monthly 
fasts. 

"  Not  a  doubt  existed  as  yet,  in  my  mind,  as  to  the  truth 
and  the  reality  of  the  religion  which  I  had  thus  adopted.  My 
faith  was  strong,  and  my  sincerity  equal  to  my  zeal,  and 
both  were  great.  The  first  scruples  which  I  had  on  this  sub 
ject  occurred  to  me  in  September  of  this  year.  They  did  not 
proceed  from  books  or  conversation,  but  from  my  own 
thoughts  and  reflections.  These  doubts  gave  me  much  pain 
and  disquietude.  I  made  great  efforts  to  banish  them  from 
my  mind,  and  redoubled  my  application  to  prayer,  and  to 
reading  and  studying  the  Bible  ;  but  all  in  vain.  A  spirit  of 
inquiry  had  arisen  which  I  could  not  stifle  nor  control.  I 
sought  in  vain  to  reconcile  the  character  of  the  Supreme 
Being,  and  the  reason  of  man,  with  the  principles  of  the 
religion  which  I  had  embraced.  What  greatly  increased  my 
embarrassment  was,  that  there  was  no  one  to  whom  I  could 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  29 

impart  my  doubts  with,  any  hope  that  he  could  remove  them. 
I  found  it  a  most  painful  task  to  question  opinions  which  I 
considered  so  important,  and  which  it  might  be  even  impious 
for  me  to  reject.  I  had  never  read  any  book  or  pamphlet 
written  against  Christianity ;  and,  as  I  was  resolved  to  pre 
serve  my  religion,  I  procured  and  read  such  writings  as  I 
could  find  in  defence  of  Christianity,  and  against  Deism.  But 
these  arguments,  though  in  some  points  satisfactory,  added, 
on  the  whole,  greatly  to  my  doubts. 

"  The  more  I  examined  my  religious  creed,  the  more  it 
seemed  to  me  opposed  to  the  character  of  God,  and  to  that 
faculty  in  man  which  distinguishes  him  from  the  inferior 
animals,  and  enables  him  to  discover  truth.  No  man,  unless 
he  has  been  in  my  situation,  can  realize  the  anxiety  which  I 
suffered.  I  knew  there  were  men  who  preached  religion  for 
money ;  and  others  who  taught  doctrines  which,  they  did  not 
believe ;  but  that  was  not  my  case.  I  had  been  sincere  in 
my  belief,  and  was  now  equally  sincere  and  unhappy  in  my 
doubts.  It  could  not  but  wound  my  feelings  to  abandon  a 
system  which  I  had  so  warmly  advocated.  Yet  this  I  could 
bear ;  but  my  fears  were  alarmed  lest  I  should  plunge  into 
error,  and  expose  myself  to  everlasting  destruction. 

"  After  being,  some  time,  in  this  painful  state  of  anxiety 
and  suspense,  I  communicated  a  portion  of  my  doubts  to  the 
Rev.  John  Allen,  a  Baptist  preacher  from  England,  who  was 
then  preaching  in  New  Hampshire.  He  assured  me  that  my 
doubts  proceeded  from  the  devil,  said  that  he  had  often  been 
afflicted  with  them  himself,  and  that  the  only  safe  and  effect 
ual  course  was,  by  a  resolute  effort  of  the  will,  to  banish  them 
from  the  mind,  repelling  all  assaults  of  the  adversary  by  the 


30  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

impenetrable  shield  of  implicit  faith.  <  The  more  you  reason/ 
said  he,,  ( the  worse  it  will  be  with  you.  Kesist  the  devil, 
and  he  will  flee  from  thee.'  I  endeavored,  in  all  sincerity  and 
good  faith,  to  follow  his  example ;  but  I  could  not  long 
silence  the  voice  of  reason,  nor  close  my  eyes  to  self-evident 
propositions,  or  to  what  seemed  necessary  deductions  from 
principles  which  I  could  not  deny.  Having  at  length  satis 
fied  myself  that  free  inquiry  could  not  be  a  crime,  and  that 
God  would  not  punish  an  upright  man  for  the  errors  into 
which  he  might  fall  in  the  search  after  truth,  I  resolved 
fully,  freely  and  impartially  to  investigate  the  doctrines  and 
the  requirements  of  religion,  as  taught  in  the  Bible,  and  to 
retain  or  reject  the  whole  system,  as  it  seemed  to  me  to  cor 
respond  with,  or  be  opposed  to,  the  reason  and  moral  nature 
of  man.  The  result  of  this  inquiry,  conducted  with  all  the 
ability  and  the  candor  I  possessed,  terminated  in  deism. 

"  I  continued  to  preach  occasionally  for  four  or  five  weeks, 
while  these  doubts  and  inquiries  were  rising  in  my  mind. 
But  my  discourses  were  very  different  from  those  which  I 
had  formerly  delivered.  I  now  dwelt  chiefly  on  the  nature 
and  perfections  of  the  Deity,  on  his  providence  and  his  works, 
and  on  the  use  and  importance  of  the  moral  and  social  virtues, 
This  difference  was  soon  perceived.  The  saints  were  alarmed. 
I  was  summoned  before  a  church  meeting,  and  admonished  to 
abandon  my  errors.  I  met  with  the  church  several  times  on 
the  subject,  without  their  coming  to  any  definite  decision.  I 
finally  told  them  that,  if  they  desired  it,  I  would  state  pub 
licly  before  the  congregation  my  opinions,  and  the  reasons  on 
which  they  rested.  To  this  Dr.  Shepherd  strongly  objected. 
I  then  withdrew  from  further  connection  with  them,  and 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK.  31 

returned  once  more  to  my  labors  on  the  farm  with  my  father, 
where  I  was  free  to  think  for  myself,  and  to  practise  what 
seemed  to  me  to  be  the  religion  of  reason  and  nature." 

This  remarkable  narrative  exhibits  its  author 
unfavorably  indeed  in  one  point  of  view,  as  alter- 
ternately  an  enthusiast  and  an  unbeliever, — yet  in 
both  characters  as  sincere,  and  earnest  in  his  inquiries, 
ready,  at  whatever  hazards,  to  follow  truth,  wherever 
she  might  lead,  and  anxious  only  for  her  instructions 
as  the  reward  of  his  labors  and  his  prayers.  The 
treasure  of  religious  truth,  which,  "  with  transports  of 
joy,"  he  had  received  for  himself,  he  was  eager  to 
impart  to  others,  not  scantily,  or  imperfectly,  or  with 
any  mercenary  aim,  but  fully,  freely,  without  fee  or 
reward,  as  an  offering  of  good  will,  and  an  oblation  of 
duty  to  his  fellow  men.  This  idea  of  unpaid  service 
was  indeed  a  part  of  his  enthusiasm.  It  sprang  from 
a  noble  motive,  and  was  worthy  of  the  native  gener 
osity  of  his  unselfish  mind. 

To  the  preceding  account,  given  by  himself,  I  am 
able  to  add,  from  other  sources,  various  circumstances 
which  throw  further  light  on  this  part  of  his  history. 
The  tour  of  preaching,  to  which  he  refers  in  the 
above  extracts,  was  undertaken  with  the  concurrence, 
if  not  on  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  Shepherd.  Many 
parts  of  the  country  which  he  visited  were  then  but 
recently  settled ;  and  among  the  rude,  but  intelligent 


32  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

inhabitants  of  the  frontier  towns,  in  the  log-cabins  of 
the  hardy  settlers,  he  became  acquainted  with  modes 
of  life,  and  habits  of  thought  and  action  with  which 
he  was  before  but  little  conversant.  His  long  jour- 
nies,  over  bad  i*oads,  and  through  gloomy  forests, 
were  cheered  by  the  deep  sense  of  duty  which  had 
sent  him  forth  on  this  errand  of  love ;  and  the 
natural  buoyancy  of  youth  gave  the  color  of  hope, 
and  often  of  exultant  joy,  to  his  thoughts,  amidst  the 
wild  and  magnificent  mountain  scenery  through 
which,  full  of  bright  fancies,  chastened  and  solem 
nized  by  deep  religious  feeling,  he  travelled  alone, 
often  pursuing  his  journey  late  into  the  evening 
before  reaching  the  humble  habitation,  where,  a 
stranger,  yet  welcome,  he  was  to  rest  for  the  night, 
and  preach  on  the  morrow  to  the  neighboring 
inhabitants.  He  visited  in  this  way  many  portions 
of  the  State,  and  became  extensively  acquainted  with 
the  people.  It  was  indeed  to  him  a  season  of  varied 
pleasure  and  severe  exertion,  of  fatigue  of  body  and 
labor  of  mind ;  yet  cheered  by  the  excitement  of 
perpetual  novelty,  and  dignified  by  the  sense  of  duty 
performed  and  service  rendered  to  others.  He  began 
to  be  aware  too,  on  this  tour,  more  than  he  had  ever 
been  before,  that  there  was  in  him  a  power  of  mind 
not  yet  called  forth, — a  capacity  to  impart  knowledge, 
and  to  exert  influence  over  others,  which,  if  it  gave 
pleasure,  imposed  also  responsibilities.  This  conscious- 


LIFE    OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER.  33 

ness  of  power  is  one  of  the  first,  and  often  of  the 
severest  trials  of  character,  to  which  men  of  genius  or 
talent  are  exposed.  He  determined  that,  whatever 
his  capacity  might  be,  it  should  be  devoted  to  useful 
purposes,  and  exerted  under  the  control  of  an  abiding 
sense  of  moral  duty. 

In  the  course  of  this  tour  he  met  writh  many 
adventures,  some  of  them  sufficiently  annoying,  others 
amusing  and  even  ludicrous.  Of  this  latter  character 
was  the  following.  He  had  been  preaching  at  Canaan, 
in  Graft-on  county,  when,  at  the  close  of  his  discourse, 
he  was  assailed  by  the  clamors  of  some  half  a  dozen 
of  his  hearers,  who  charged  him  with  being  a  tory, 
upon  the  ground  that  in  his  sermon  he  had  spoken  of 
war  as  anti-Christian,  and  that  in  his  prayer  he  had 
besought  the  Lord  "to  overturn  and  overturn,  till 
He  should  come  whose  right  it  is  to  reign."  "  Now 
who/'  said  these  sagacious  objectors,  "can  reign  but  a 
king?  and  what  overturn  can  there  be  but  of  the  present 
republican  government,  that  the  king  of  England, 
who  claims  a  right  to  reign  over  us,  may  come  in 
and  exert  his  former  authority  here?"  It  did  not 
occur  to  these  worthy  patriots  that  King  Emanuel, 
and  not  King  George,  was  in  the  thoughts  of  the 
preacher,  and  that  his  language,  drawn  from  Scrip 
ture,  had  no  reference  to  the  vocabulary  of  tory 
politics.  If  this  account  seems  incredible,  its  improb 
ability  will  be  perhaps  somewhat  lessened  when  I  add 

3 


34  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

that  the  text  was,  "Little  children,  love  one  another," 
and  that  he  found  in  it  no  warrant  for  the  violence 
and  injustice  in  which  war  generally  originates.  He 
succeeded,  however,  in  convincing  those  who  had  at 
first  expressed  so  much  anger  at  his  discourse,  that 
there  was  really  no  treason  in  it,  and  they  departed, 
amidst  the  laughter  of  the  bystanders,  with  the 
uncomfortable  reflection  that  their  zeal  had,  on  this  oc 
casion,  outrun  their  discretion.  The  anecdote  would 
not  have  been  worth  relating  here,  but  for  the  revival, 
thirty-six  years  afterward,  when  he  was  a  candidate 
for  the  office  of  Governor,  of  this  Canaan  story,  with 
an  entire  perversion  of  the  facts.  The  charge  then 
made  was,  that  he  was  a  tory  in  the  time  of  the 
revolution,  and  had  been  arrested  as  such  on  the 
occasion  here  referred  to.  There  was  in  fact  no 
arrest  or  attempt  to  arrest  in  the  case,  no  toryism 
preached,  and  nothing  unusual  beyond  the  ludicrous 
mistake  of  a  few  of  his  hearers. 

As  a  preacher,  he  was  eminently  successful  wher 
ever  he  went.  He  had  a  ready  command  of  apt, 
lively  and  idiomatic  language ;  and  his  use  of  words,  if 
not  elegant  or  scholar-like,  was  never  low  or  vulgar. 
His  voice  was  strong  and  clear,  and  its  tones  varied 
and  harmonious.  His  reasoning  was  close  and  logical, 
fortified  by  Scripture  quotations  and  analogies ;  and 
his  appeals  to  the  passions  were  strong,  and  often 
overpowering.  His  zeal  and  enthusiasm,  genuine  and 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  35 

unaffected,  animating  his  discourses  with  the  fervor 
of  his  own  convictions,  carried  his  hearers  easily  and 
entirely  with  him.  I  have  heard  many  old  men 
speak  with  admiration  of  his  performances  on  such 
occasions.  With  the  usual  partiality  of  the  aged  for 
the  favorites  of  their  youth,  they  all  agreed  in  the 
declaration  that  they  had  never  since  seen  or  heard 
any  one  who  exerted  such  power  over  his  audience, 
as  this  young  and  eloquent  Baptist  preacher — a  boy, 
as  one  of  them  said,  with  the  tongue  of  an  angel. 
Arthur  Livermore,  who  heard  him  at  Holderness, 
wrhen  he  was  fourteen  years  old,  was  so  strongly 
impressed  by  him,  that  he  told  me,  seventy-two  years 
afterward,  that  he  still  remembered  distinctly  his 
look  and  manner,  and  the  text  and  the  tenor  of  his 
discourse.  The  turn  of  his  mind  was  at  all  times  less 
to  declamation  than  to  reasoning,  which,  as  the  main 
ingredient,  gave  strength  and  body  to  his  discourses; 
yet  then,  as  in  after  life,  the  warmth  of  his  feelings 
added  always  a  touch  of  passion  to  his  coldest  reason 
ing.  The  strength  of  his  earnest  and  confiding  faith 
filled,  while  it  lasted,  all  his  thoughts,  and  directed 
the  whole  energy  of  his  mind  to  the  inculcation  of 
his  religious  opinions,  and  with  them  to  the  promotion, 
as  he  believed,  of  the  highest  happiness  of  his  fellow- 
men.  But  this  confiding  faith  and  more  than  mission^ 
ary  zeal  were  not  destined  long  to  continue.  A  new 
train  of  thought  and  feeling  had  now  arisen,  which. 


36  LIFE    OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

mastered  him  as  effectually  as  his  former  mood,  with 
results  more  lasting,  and,  in  some  respects,  less 
fortunate.  Unwilling  to  hold  his  religion  on  trust, 
he  felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to  subject  it  to  the  test  of 
free  inquiry  and  rational  conviction.  It  was,  indeed, 
not  to  have  been  expected,  still  less  was  it  desirable, 
that  his  strong  and  clear  mind  should  have  wedded 
itself  permanently  to  the  entire  system  of  somewhat 
narrow  theology  which  he  had  embraced.  But  the 
revulsion  of  thought  and  feeling  was  as  far  or  farther 
on  the  other  and  the  wrong  side  of  a  just  balance  of 
opinion  and  sentiment.  Driven  into  the  extreme  of 
fanatical  belief,  under  the  excitement  of  fear,  and  the 
contagion  of  example,  he  was  carried,  by  a  natural 
but  unfortunate  reaction,  into  the  opposite  extreme. 
The  horrors  of  his  first  conviction,  the  nervous  terrors, 
the  everlasting  burnings  which  opened  before  him,  in 
this  fever  of  the  brain,  which  at  times  approached 
almost  to  insanity, — the  whole  series,  in  short,  of  his 
religious  experiences  and  trials,  became  thus  asso 
ciated  in  his  mind  with  the  very  name  of  religion,  and 
produced  in  him  a  loathing  and  aversion,  at  times 
almost  unconquerable,  for  the  whole  subject.  Impos 
ture,  fanaticism,  madness  rose  before  him  like  a  cloud, 
and  hid  from  him  the  wisdom  of  God  in  the  folly  of 
man.  It  is  easy  for  us  to  relate,  in  cold  and  measured 
terms,  the  process  of  these  fiery  religious  changes. 
We  may  regard  them  with  indifference,  or  dismiss 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER.  37 

with  pity  or  contempt.  It  was  not  so  with  him.  In 
the  most  susceptible  period  of  youth,  the  excitement 
of  an  enthusiastic  religious  feeling  passed,  with  the 
force  and  rapidity  of  lightning,  through  the  whole 
frame  of  his  moral  and  intellectual  nature,  shaking 
the  deepest  foundations  of  thought  and  feeling — 
laying  bare  the  intellect,  which  it  roused,  however, 
rather  than  subdued,  and  scathing,  and  for  a  time 
blighting,  some  of  the  purest  and  warmest  affections 
of  the  heart.  These  recovered,  indeed,  from  the  first 
violence  of  the  shock,  but  he  could  hardly  be  said  ever 
to  have  renewed,  in  their  pristine  purity,  the  beauty, 
the  simplicity,  and  the  warmth  of  his  early  faith. 
Some  impressions,  burned  into  him  by  the  fire  of  that 
first  fever  of  the  mind,  were  too  deeply  imprinted 
ever  to  be  utterly  effaced.  The  wound  healed,  but 
the  scar  remained ;  and  some  portion  of  beauty,  if  not 
of  strength  was  lost  in  the  operation.  Yet,  in  this 
shipwreck  of  his  early  hopes,  he  held  fast  to  his  belief 
in  a  future  state,  and  in  the  existence  of  a  Supreme 
Being,  wise,  good  and  provident  in  all  his  dispen 
sations.  However  doubtful  on  other  points,  on  which 
we  could  have  earnestly  craved  for  him  the  full 
assurance  of  Christian  faith,  his  understanding  was 
never  clouded  by  the  delusion  of  those  who  hold  that 
this  universal  frame  is  without  an  Intelligent  Cause, 
or  this  maze  of  human  nature  without  an  Author,  an 
object  and  a  plan. 


38  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEE. 

When  his  father  first  perceived  his  change  on  these 
subjects,  he  endeavored,  by  reasoning  with  him,  to 
restore  him  to  his  former  religious  belief.  But  he 
was  no  match  for  his  son,  either  in  command  of 
language,  in  quickness  of  thought,  or  force  of  reason 
ing  ;  still  less  in  zeal  and  ardor  in  debate.  If  not  a 
better  theologian,  the  young  sceptic  could  at  least 
put  questions  and  state  objections  which  no  previous 
study  or  reflection  had  prepared  the  parent  to 
obviate  or  remove.  After  many  vain  attempts  to 
convince  him  of  his  errors,  his  father,  who  was  a 
strong-minded,  though  uneducated  man,  finally  said 
to  him:  "Well,  William,  we  shall  not  convince  each 
other,  and  may  therefore  as  well  be  silent  on  this 
subject  for  the  future.  Let  me  only  advise  you  to 
think  more  and  talk  less.  You  will  thus  come  in 
time  to  answer  your  own  objections,  which  will  be 
better  than  if  I  could  do  it  for  you.  Keep  your  love 
of  truth,  and  your  reverence  for  God,  and  you  will 
come  out  right  in  the  end."  His  mother,  who,  from 
his  infancy,  had  devoted  her  first-born  to  the  altar, 
and  had  seen  with  a  mother's  pride  and  gratification 
the  crowds  that  followed  him,  and  the  great  good 
which  he  seemed  to  be  doing  as  a  preacher,  was  propor 
tionally  disappointed  at  his  relapse,  and  grieved  and 
mortified  at  this  sudden,  and,  to  her,  inexplicable 
eclipse  of  her  fondest  hopes  and  expectations.  She 
reasoned,  remonstrated,  entreated,  and  wept  over  him. 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER.  39 

He  was  moved  indeed  by  her  persuasions,  and 
softened  by  her  tears;  but  while  no  ill  will  was 
engendered  and  no  love  lost  between  them,  they 
retained  severally  their  own  convictions. 

He  drew  up,  about  this  time  or  perhaps  a  little 
later — I  do  not  know  the  exact  date — a  statement 
of  his  reasons  for  dissent  from  Christianity.  I  saw  this 
paper  many  years  after  it  was  written.  It  was 
written  with  great  force  of  reasoning,  precision  of 
force  and  clearness  of  style,  abounding  in  acute 
remarks,  and  new  and  striking  views  of  the  subjects 
which  he  discussed.  Yet  at  the  same  time  he  seems 
to  have  had  some  doubts  as  to  the  correctness  of  his 
summary  of  Christian  doctrine,  especially  as  he  found 
nothing  to  which,  rightly  understood,  he  could  object 
in  the  teachings  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  muoh  which  he 
even  then  most  gladly  embraced. 

His  letters,  during  this  period,  are  largely  occupied 
with  the  discussion  of  questions  in  morals  and  the 
ology,  and  show  how  strong  a  hold  these  subjects  had 
taken  on  his  mind.  The  character  and  attributes  of 
God,  his  moral  government,  the  nature  of  man,  his 
rights  and  his  duties,  his  freedom  and  consequent 
responsibility,  are  themes  on  which  he  frequently 
enlarged.  He  nowhere  argues  against  the  truth  of 
Christianity  itself,  but  often  against  the  then  cur 
rent  dogmas,  as  in  his  regard  inconsistent  with  the 
character  of  God  and  the  nature  of  man. 


40  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

In  June,  1782,  he  visited  the  Shakers,  at  Harvard, 
Massachusetts,  where  Ann  Lee,  the  founder  of  the 
sect,  then  resided,  and  had  much  conversation  with 
her.  She  was  a  woman  of  great  shrewdness,  ready 
wit,  and  aptness  in  her  Scripture  quotations.  She 
claiming  for  the  church  the  power  to  perform  mira 
cles,  he  told  her  he  would  become  her  disciple  if  she 
would  perform  one  in  his  sight.  "A  wicked  and 
adulterous  generation,"  was  her  prompt  reply,  "seek- 
eth  a  sign,  but  no  sign  shall  be  given  them."  Her 
followers  spent  the  night  he  was  there  in  dancing, 
singing  and  praying,  whirling  on  one  foot,  leaping, 
shouting  and  clapping  hands.  One  of  the  sisters  took 
him  out  into  the  middle  of  the  room,  and  began 
whirling  and  dancing  round  him  with  wild  gestures, 
and  wilder  incantations,  till  at  length,  feeling  himself 
growing  dizzy,  and  half  inclined  to  join  in  it,  he  seized 
the  mad  bacchante  in  his  arms  and  was  carried  by  her 
across  the  room. 

In  the  first  ardor  of  his  change,  he  sought  for  a 
time  to  make  converts  to  his  new  opinions.  He  was, 
as  Mackintosh  says  of  himself,  "probably  the  boldest 
heretic  in  the  county."  But  he  soon  relinquished 
the  vain  ambition  of  settling  the  opinions  of  others, 
while  his  own  were  in  a  state  of  so  much  uncertainty. 
His  feelings  were  those  of  an  inquirer,  in  doubt  as  to 
truth,  and  anxious,  chiefly,  for  the  solution  of  that 
doubt.  When  he  spoke  upon  the  subject,  it  was, 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK.  41 

therefore,  not  with  levity  or  sarcasm,  but  with  the 
respect  due  to  long-established  opinions,  and  in  the 
tone  of  inquiry,  rather  than  of  dogmatic  defiance  and 
disbelief. 

I  have  dwelt  at  the  greater  length  on  this  part  of 
his  early  history,  not  only  as  interesting  in  itself,  but 
because  of  its  great  influence  on  his  subsequent  life 
and  character.  It  was  with  him  the  stage  of  doubt 
and  uncertainty,  of  internal  strife  and  self-conflict, 
through  which  most  men  who  think  for  themselves 
are  compelled  to  pass  on  their  way  to  the  repose  of 
truth,  if  they  ever  reach  it,  in  the  assurance  of  settled 
opinion.  » 

The  leading  views,  thus  early  developed  in  his 
mind,  were  in  later  life  essentially  modified  by  wider 
reading,  larger  experience,  and  more  mature  reflec 
tion.  His  rejection  of  Calvinism  was  final  and 
irreversible;  and  when,  at  a  later  period,  he  felt  his 
heart  opening  to  the  influences  of  a  milder  faith,  it 
was  not  so  much  through  any  formal  process  of 
abstract  reasoning,  or  by  the  open  and  direct  reversal 
of  former  conclusions,  as  through  the  sure  instincts  of 
the  moral  nature,  the  vis  mcdicatrix  of  his  maturer 
mind,  the  result  of  feeling  ripening  slowly  into 
thought,  and  showing  itself  in  deed  rather  than  in 
word  or  profession,  in  life  and  character  more  than 
in  creed  or  speculation, — a  feeling  of  the  heart  pass 
ing  gradually  into  a  conviction  of  the  understanding. 


42  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

The  subject  of  this  chapter  will  be  resumed  when 
we  come,  in  the  progress  of  our  narrative,  to  that 
period  of  life  in  which  inquiry,  if  not  dismissed  as 
fruitless,  settles  into  belief,  and  opinion  takes  the 
form  in  which  the  mind  is  content  finally  to  repose. 


CHAPTER     III. 

THE   LAW  STUDENT    AND   LEGISLATOR. 

FROM  his  labors  as  a  preacher,  my  father  returned, 
at  the  close  of  1780,  with  unabated  ador,  to  his  old 
pursuit  of  knowledge,  through  the  medium  of  books. 
But  books  were  no  longer  the  sole  companions  of  his 
leisure.  For  the  last  eighteen  months  he  had  been 
almost  constantly  in  contact,  and  occasionally  in 
collision,  with  the  world  of  living  men;  and,  without 
losing  his  hold  on  the  past,  he  came  thenceforth  to 
feel  a  more  lively  interest  in  the  passing  events  of  the 
day,  and  especially  in  the  two  great  events  of  his 
time,  the  war  of  Independence,  and  the  assumption 
of  self-government  which  that  war  devolved  upon 
the  people  of  the  United  States. 

His  father  had  been  a  Whig  while  the  object  sought 
by  the  colonies  was  a  redress  of  grievances.  But 
when  the  question  of  Independence  arose,  he  doubted 
both  as  to  the  policy  and  the  practicability  of  the 
measure.  lie  thought  the  people  not  yet  ripe  for 
self-government  •  or,  if  so,  not  strong  enough  to  set 
at  defiance  the  power  of  the  British  empire.  "  Let  us 
wait,"  he  said,  "  till  we  are  stronger,  before  setting  up 


44  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

for  ourselves.  Remonstrate  and  petition,  if  you  will, 
and  adhere  to  your  non-importation  acts,  but  let 
there  be  no  fighting  in  our  clay.  Our  sons,  or,  at  the 
farthest,  their  sons,  will  be  strong  enough  to  have 
their  own  way  in  this  matter ;  and  their  way  will  be 
a  better  one  than  any  wTe  can  now  take  in  that 
direction."  In  a  word,  he  was  a  Whig  of  the  John 
Dickinson,  rather  than  of  the  John  Adams  school. 
These  cautious  counsels  were,  however,  ill-suited  to 
the  ardent  temper  of  the  times ;  and,  finding  them  of 
no  avail,  he  submitted,  with  his  usual  prudence,  to  the 
popular  decision,  paid  his  war-taxes  promptly,  and 
discharged  readily  all  the  duties  of  a  good  citizen, 
though  he  had  small  hope  of  a  successful  issue  to  the 
war,  and  doubted,  to  the  end,  as  to  its  policy.  This 
did  not  prevent  his  signing,  in  1776,  among  the  first 
in  Epping,  together  with  two  hundred  and  nine  of  his 
townsmen,  "  the  solemn  pledge,  at  the  risk  of  their 
lives  and  fortunes,  with  arms,  to  oppose  the  hostile 
proceedings  of  the  British  fleets  and  armies  against 
the  United  American  Colonies."  This  was  prior  to 
the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

His  son  was  of  a  more  sanguine  temperament,  and, 
from  the  moment  when  the  decline  of  his  religious 
fervor  left  him  leisure  and  inclination  to  consider  the 
subject,  "  he  became,"  as  Charles  II.  Atherton  said  in 
a  letter  to  me,  "eminently  a  son  and  preacher  of 
liberty ;  ready  to  suffer  as  a  martyr  in  the  cause,  and 


LIFF     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  45 

glorying  in  chains  and  imprisonment,  if  such  should 
be  his  lot."  To  no  such  lot,  however.,  was  any  New 
Hampshire  man  exposed.  There  was  no  considerable 
tory  party  here  ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  no 
hostile  foot  of  civilized  man,  except,  perhaps,  in  the 
first  settlement  of  the  State,  some  Frenchman  in  an 
Indian  excursion  from  Canada,  ever  left  its  print  on 
the  soil  of  New  Hampshire.  Neither  during  the 
Revolution,  nor  in  the  war  of  1812,  was  there  any 
invasion  of  our  territory.  But,  though  not  actually 
invaded,  its  inhabitants  were  within  hearing  of  the 
sounds  of  war.  My  father  showed  me,  many  years 
after,  the  spot  where  he  was  hoeing  corn,  June  17th, 
1776,  when  he  heard  the  cannon  of  the  British,  at 
the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  The  distance  wras  nearly 
fifty  miles,  on  a  straight  line,  yet  the  report  was 
distinctly  heard,  and  the  cause  readily  divined.  At 
the  second  discharge  he  left  his  work,  and  was 
among  the  first  to  join  his  townsmen  at  the  meeting 
house,  where  they  assembled  the  same  afternoon,  in 
anxious  consultation  as  to  the  probable  issue  of  the 
day. 

The  next  morning  several  of  them  marched  for 
Boston,  ignorant  of  the  event,  but  ready  to  meet  the 
danger,  whatever  it  might  be,  which  awaited  their 
advance.  My  grandfather  had  assisted  at  the  consul 
tation,  but  refused  leave  to  his  son,  then  not  quite 
sixteen,  to  join  the  marching  party.  The  first  clash 


46  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

of  arms  at  Lexington  had  filled  him  with  fearful 
forebodings  as  to  the  probable  result  of  this  rash 
adventure,  as  he  called  it.  His  son,  who  had  no 
such  fears,  was  sanguine,  perhaps,  in  proportion  to  his 
ignorance  of  the  dangers  and  trials  of  the  contest. 

Political  subjects  engaged  much  of  my  father's 
attention  at  this  time ;  yet  his  regular  occupation  was 
not  that  of  a  student,  or  a  politician,  but  of  a  farmer, 
working  daily  in  the  fields  with  his  father  and  his 
brothers.  These  labors  of  the  farm  were,  however, 
distasteful  to  him,  not  so  much  on  their  own  account, 
as  from  the  infirm  state  of  his  health,  which  required 
some  less  toilsome  occupation.  Work  all  day  on  the 
farm,  and  study  continued  far  into  the  night,  were 
too  much  for  his  slender  frame ;  and  it  became  daily 
more  apparent  that  one  or  the  other  must  be,  if  not 
adandoned,  at  least  greatly  restricted. 

An  accident,  which  confined  him  for  some  weeks  to 
the  house,  strengthened  his  desire  for  some  other 
employment  than  that  of  manual  labor.  Of  the  three 
learned  professions,  medicine  seemed  to  him,  at  this 
time,  on  the  whole,  to  be  preferred.  He  accordingly 
read  several  medical  works,  particularly  those  of  the 
eminent  Dutch  physician,  Boerhaave,  from  whom  he 
derived  much  useful  information  on  diet  and  regimen, 
which  made  him  ever  after,  to  a  considerable  extent, 
his  own  physician.  He,  however,  soon  abandoned 
this  new  pursuit,  to  which  the  accident  of  his  wound 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  47 

had  perhaps  first  drawn  his  attention.  The  want  of 
firm  health  and  a  robust  constitution  seemed  to 
disqualify  him  for  the  fatigues  and  exposures  which 
a  country  physician  in  an  extensive  practice  must, 
night  and  day,  and  in  all  weathers,  encounter ;  and 
he  had  not  then  confidence  enough  in  his  own  powers 
to  suppose  that  he  could  make  his  way  in  a  city, 
against  the  better  educated  and  powerfully  connected 
members  of  the  profession  whom  he  would  there 
have  to  meet.  It  may  be  suspected,  too,  that  medi 
cine  had  less  attraction  for  a  mind  like  his,  than  the 
more  congenial  pursuits  of  the  law,  which  readily 
connects  itself  with  public  affairs,  on  which,  by  this 
time,  his  thoughts  had  become  strongly  fixed. 

It  was  during  the  confinement  above  referred  to, 
occasioned  by  a  cut  in  the  foot  with  an  axe,  that  he 
produced,  December,  1781,  almost  the  only  verses, — 
poetry  it  could  hardly  be  called,— which  he  is  known 
to  have  written.  Almost  every  man  finds  himself,  at 
some  period  of  his  life,  a  poet.  The  slender  vein  of  his 
inspiration  exhausted  itself,  on  this  occasion,  in  a 
poem  on  "Adversity  and  its  Remedy."  The  remedy 
here  proposed  is  the  usual  one  of  patience  under 
suffering;  and  its  use,  to  which  the  poem  is  chiefly 
devoted,  is  declared  to  be  to  teach  us  compassion  for 
the  sufferings  of  others,  and  to  rouse  us  to  active 
exertions  for  their  relief.  This  poem,  which  consists 
of  about  three  hundred  lines  in  blank  verse,  has  the 


48  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

merit  of  good  sense  and  just  feeling,  but  it  is  written 
without  harmony  of  numbers,  with  little  flow  of  fancy, 
and  no  strength  of  creative  imagination.  .  It  is,  so  far 
as  I  know,  his  only  poem,  except  a  copy  of  verses, 
written  in  1785,  on  the  marriage  of  one  of  his  friends, 
and  of  somewhat  higher  merit.  But  his  judgment 
was  too  sound  not  readily  to  perceive  the  broad 
distinction  between  that  nice  sensibility  to  beauty 
which  is  necessary  to  the  due  appreciation  of  poetry, 
and  that  much  rarer  power  of  genius  which  is  essen 
tial  to  its  production.  "I  found,"  he  says,  "that 
nature  had  not  intended  me  for  a  poet,  and,  though 
fond  of  reading  poetry,  I  have  never  since  attempted 
to  write  it." 

But,  though  not  a  poet,  he  had  by  this  time  secured 
the  command  of  a  good  prose  style  ;  and  he  was  not 
slow  in  turning  it  to  account.  His  first  publication 
in  the  newspapers,  for  which  he  afterwards  wrote 
so  much,  was  made  about  this  time,  February  18th, 
1782,  in  the  New  Hampshire  Gazette,  printed  in 
Portsmouth.  It  was  on  a  branch  of  the  great  sub 
ject  of  religion,  which  had  long  occupied  so  largely 
his  attention;  not,  however,  on  the  peculiarities  of 
religious  doctrine,  but  on  the  rights  of  conscience,  and 
the  protection  of  religious  freedom. 

The  revolution  had  thrown  the  colonies,  in  the 
midst  of  their  other  clangers,  upon  the  untried  perils 
of  self-government.  Next  to  the  demands  of  the 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  49 

war,  and,  indeed,  essential  to  its  success,  was  the  call 
on  the  civil  wisdom  of  the  country  for  local  institu 
tions,  and  new  forms  of  government.  The  epoch  of 
the  revolution  was  the  epoch,  also,  of  written  consti 
tutions.  The  old  governments  were  dissolved,  and, 
in  this  sudden  resolution  of  society  into  its  first 
elements,  when  every  man  had  his  Utopia,  or  his 
Oceana,  it  is  not  strange  that  many  crude  notions 
should  have  been  advanced.  The  people  of  N-ew 
Hampshire  were  the  first  on  the  continent  to  adopt, 
on  this  occasion,  a  written  constitution.  It  went  into 
operation  January  5th,  1776,  before  the  Declaration 
of  Independence ;  and  its  title  bears  proof,  not  to  be 
mistaken,  of  the  unsettled  state  of  public  feeling  in  the 
colonies  at  this  time.  It  was  entitled,  "A  form  of 
government  to  continue  during  the  present  unhappy 
and  unnatural  contest  with  Great  Britain."  It  imposed 
no  restriction  on  the  right  of  suffrage,  and  left  the 
highest  offices  open  to  all.  In  1779,  a  new  constitu 
tion  was  formed,  by  a  new  convention,  called  for  that 
purpose.  The  government,  proposed  by  this  instru 
ment,  was  to  consist  of  a  Council  and  House  of 
Representatives ;  and  it  was  provided,  that  all  the 
male  inhabitants  of  the  State,  of  lawful  age,  paying 
taxes,  and  professing  the  Protestant  religion,  shall  be 
deemed  lawful  voters,  in  choosing  councillors  and 
representatives, — these  latter  to  have  the  same  quali 
fications  as  the  voters,  and  also  an  estate  of  three 


50  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

hundred  pounds.  This  constitution  was  not  adopted 
by  the  people.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  this 
religious  test,  then  first  proposed,  w^as  nearly  contem 
poraneous  with  the  alliance  with  France,  which, 
however  beneficial  in  other  respects,  was  thought  by 
many  likely  to  favor  the  introduction  of  popery 
among  us.  The  only  real  danger  from  the  French 
alliance,  to  the  religion  of  the  country,  was  not  from 
the  Primate  of  Rome,  but  from  the  philosopher  of 
Ferney,  whose  disciples  in  the  French  army  were 
much  more  numerous  and  more  zealous  than  the 
priests. 

Another  convention  was  called  in  1781 ;  and  the 
constitution  proposed  by  it,  after  various  alterations 
and  amendments,  went  finally  into  operation  in  1784. 
One  of  its  clauses  declared  that  "Every  individual 
has  a  natural  and  unalienable  right  to  worship  God 
according  to  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience  and 
reason."  Yet,  as  a  sort  of  compromise  between 
the  new  spirit  of  religious  freedom  and  the  old 
intolerance,  "the  protection  of  the  law"  for  this 
"unalienable  right"  was,  by  another  article,  confined 
to  "  Christians;"  leaving  all  others  out  of  the  pale  of 
such  protection.  By  other  clauses  it  was  provided, 
that  no  person  should  hold  the  office  of  governor, 
councillor,  senator,  delegate,  or  member  of  Congress, 
unless  he  were  of  the  "Protestant  religion."  It  was 
in  opposition  to  these  intolerant  restrictions,  and  in 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  51 

defence  of  religious  liberty,  that  this  first  essay  was 
written.  In  it,  the  broad  principle  is  laid  down,  that 
all  men  are  equally  entitled  to  the  protection  of  the 
laws,  who  demean  themselves  peaceably,  as  good 
members  of  civil  society,  without  reference  to  their 
religious  opinions;  and,  that  any  man  should  be 
eligible  to  office  who  possesses  the  ability  necessary 
for  the  discharge  of  its  duties. 

This  communication,  which  went  the  full  length, 
not  of  toleration  merely,  but  of  religious  freedom,  as 
now  understood  by  its  most  liberal  advocates,  was  far 
in  advance  of  the  times.  "The  printer,"  my  father 
writes,  "thinking  the  religion  of  the  country  required 
such  a  provision  as  I  opposed,  refused  to  publish 
what  I  had  written,  until  I  paid  him  three  dollars  for 
doing  it."  The  articles  of  the  Constitution,  thus 
opposed,  were  adopted  by  the  people,  and  still  remain 
a  part  of  that  instrument.  Such,  however,  was  the 
justice  of  his  strictures,  and  such  the  advance  of  public 
sentiment  on  this  subject,  that  these  provisions  soon 
became  practically  obsolete.  Men,  not  Protestants, 
nor  even  Christians,  have  been  repeatedly  chosen  to 
offices  which,  under  these  provisions,  they  were  not 
entitled  to  hold;  and  no  attempt  was  ever  made 
to  exclude  them  on  the  ground  of  this  religious  dis 
qualification.  These  and  other  amendments  of  the 
Constitution  being  still  before  the  people,  he  wrote 
another  address,  which  was  published  in  1783,  and 


52  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

brought  the  matter  before  the  town  of  Epping,  in 
September  of  that  year,  as  chairman  of  a  committee, 
in  a  written  report  made  on  the  subject.  The  Con 
stitution,  as  amended,  did  not  go  into  operation  till 
June  10th,  1784. 

In  March,  1783,  he  was  chosen  one  of  the  selectmen 
of  Epping,  and  his  first  public  employment  was  in 
the  humble,  but  not  unimportant  offices  of  his  adopted 
town,  whose  affairs  he  managed  with  prudence  and 
sagacity  for  many  years,  much  to  the  satisfaction  of 
his  townsmen.  "We  will  hold  the  candle,  squire,  and 
you  must  do  the  work,"  was  the  remark  of  one  of  his 
colleagues,  indicating,  not  untruly,  the  relation  in 
which  they  stood  towards  each  other,  and  which, 
as  he  put  forward  no  pretensions,  they  willingly 
acknowledged.  As  a  sample  of  the  moderate  emolu 
ments  of  those  times,  it  may  be  mentioned,  that  he 
charged  three  shillings  a  day  for  his  services,  and 
half  that  sum  for  half  a  day;  and  this,  too,  when 
the  pay  was  in  town  orders,  at  a  discount  of  from 
twenty-five  to  fifty  per  cent.  He  never,  however, 
regarded  as  lost  or  misapplied  the  time  devoted  to 
these  services.  They  made  him  acquainted  with  the 
people,  gave  him  business  habits,  and  prepared  him 
for  more  important  duties. 

This  first  official  appointment  raised  in  his  mind, 
or  rather  brought  to  a  practical  decision  in  his  own 
case,  the  question  as  to  the  lawfulness  and  propriety 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  53 

of  taking  official  or  other  oaths.  He  considered  this 
appeal  to  the  Deity,  in  the  ordinary  transactions  of 
life,  as  unnecessary  and  improper.  "Swear  not  at  all," 
was  his  text,  on  this  subject ;  and  he  adhered  to  it  to 
the  letter.  No  man  ever  heard  him  utter  an  oath, 
whether  seriously  before  a  magistrate,  or  profanely  in 
conversation.  Aside  from  the  religious  aspect  of  the 
subject,  he  was  averse,  on  principle,  to  the  use  of 
intense  or  violent  language.  He  employed  few  adjec 
tives,  and  still  fewer  superlatives  in  his  speech,  and 
never  added  to  the  force  of  his  thoughts  by  exple 
tives  or  adjurations. 

Anxious  to  engage  in  some  pursuit  which  should 
task  his  mind  more  than  his  body,  and  feeling,  no 
doubt,  within  him  the  stirrings  of  powers,  which  some 
public  profession  could  alone  develop  or  employ,  he 
at  length  determined  to  commence  the  study  of  the 
law.  After  applying  to  Theophilus  Bradbury,  of 
Newburyport,  who  advised  him  to  study  law  in  the 
state  where  lie  intended  to  practice,  and  to  John 
Pickering,  of  Portsmouth,  who  declined  to  take  him, 
upon  the  ground,  that,  having  already  two  students, 
he  could  not  do  justice  to  a  third,  he  entered  in  May, 
1784,  the  office  of  Joshua  Atherton,  of  Amherst,  who 
was  at  that  time  a  lawyer  of  good  standing  at  the 
bar,  and  was  afterwards  Attorney  General  of  the 
state.  In  going  to  Amherst,  he  was  accompanied  on 
the  journey  by  his  brother  Samuel.  Mounting  their 


54  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK. 

horses  after  dinner,  they  rode  to  Londonderry,  where 
they  passed  the  night  at  the  house  of  their  aunt 
Alexander,  and  the  next  morning  left  that  place  for 
Amherst.  On  reaching  the  Merrimac,  at  Thornton's 
ferry,  the  younger  brother,  leading  one  horse  and 
riding  the  other,  turned  his  face  homeward,  while  the 
elder  taking  his  bundle  of  clothes  in  his  hand,  leaped 
lightly  into  the  boat,  crossed  the  river,  and  made  his 
way  on  foot  to  Amherst.  He  was  kindly  received  by 
his  new  instructor,  who  had  already  two  students 
with  him ;  to  one  of  whom,  William  Coleman,  after 
wards  distinguished  as  the  editor  of  the  New  York 
Evening  Post,  and  a  leading  Federalist  in  that  state, 
the  young  student  became  much  attached,  and  kept 
up  with  him,  for  many  years,  a  friendly  correspond 
ence.  Coleman  soon  formed  so  high  an  opinion  of 
his  fellow-student's  talents,  that  he  wrote  to  him  two 
years  later:  "Ere  many  years  you  will  so  fully  gain 
the  esteem  of  your  state,  as  you  have  already  of  your 
town,  as  to  give  me  the  opportunity,  when  I  shall 
hereafter  write  you,  to  subscribe  myself  '  Your  Excel 
lency's  most  obedient,  etc.' "  This  rather  remarkable 
prediction  failed  only  by  the  death  of  Coleman,  before 
the  event  happened  which  he  had  foreseen. 

Atherton  gave  him  Coke  upon  Littleton,  as  his  first 
initiation  into  the  mysteries  of  the  law ;  and  it  is  not 
strange  that  the  ardor  of  the  young  aspirant  was 
somewhat  cooled  by  this  selection  of  masters,  so  quaint, 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  55 

austere  and  forbidding.  After  digging,  for  some  three 
or  four  weeks,  in  the  rugged  soil  of  the  feudal  tenures, 
and  beginning,  as  he  thought,  to  get  some  glimpses  of 
its  hidden  treasures,  he  was  told  by  his  instructor  that 
he  must  suspend  his  legal  studies,  and  commence  with 
the  Latin  grammar.  He  must  read  Virgil  and  Cicero 
before  he  could  understand  Coke  and  Littleton.  This 
was  a  new  and,  to  him,  most  unwelcome  labor.  He, 
however,  laid  aside  his  law,  and  took  up  Lily's  Latin 
grammar,  probably  the  first  grammar  he  had  ever 
seen,  certainly  the  first  he  had  ever  attempted  to 
study.  Its  strange  sounds  and,  to  him,  unmeaning 
rules,  were  even  more  distasteful  than  the  quaint 
language,  the  remote  analogies,  and  subtle  distinctions, 
into  which  he  had  with  difficulty  entered,  in  those 
ancient  sages  of  the  law,  on  whose  words  he  had  been 
so  recently  intent.  This  new  and  repulsive  study — 
what  Lord  Brougham  calls  "the  tediousness,  the 
intricacies,  and  the  labors  of  grammar" — coming  thus 
suddenly  on  the  back  of  the  other,  was  too  much  for 
his  patience.  Spelman,  under  less  trying  circum 
stances,  tells  us  that  he  had  felt  his  heart  sink  within 
him.  Few  students  have  escaped  the  same  feelings 
at  their  first  entrance  on  the  study  of  the  law.  After 
a  brief  trial,  he  threw  down  the  Latin  grammar,  and, 
bidding  a  farewell  to  Amherst,  returned,  not  with 
out  some  mortification  and  regret,  to  his  father's 
house ;  where  he  found  his  friends  delighted  with  the 


56  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

idea  of  his  renouncing  the  law,  though  he  told  them 
he  should  soon  resume  it  under  a  different  instructor. 
The  letter  already  quoted,  of  Charles  H.  Atherton, 
who  was  the  son  of  the  Attorney  General,  contains  a 
description  of  the  young  student  as  he  then  appeared, 
which  is  interesting  as  compared  with  what  is  known 
of  him  in  later  life.  "I  have,"  he  says,  "a  vivid 
impression  of  your  father's  appearance  at  that  time. 
He  wore  a  snuff-colored  coat,  was  thin  and  spare,  and 
had  much  the  appearance  of  a  Methodist  preacher.  I 
remember  that  he  talked  in  regular-built  sentences, 
like  a  book;  and  that  young  as  I  was,  being  only 
twelve  or  thirteen  years  old,  I  was  very  much  struck 
with  the  precision  and  good  sense  of  his  conversation." 
On  this  description,  I  may  remark,  that  the  com 
parison  of  the  "Methodist  preacher"  could  not  have 
been  suggested  at  the  time,  as  no  such  preachers 
were  then  to  be  seen  in  New  Hamshire.  It  is  not 
improbable,  however,  that  he  still  retained  something 
of  the  clerical  aspect,  which  at  an  earlier  period  he 
must  have  worn.  He  had  at  this  time  seen  little  that 
could  be  called  polite  or  polished  society,  and  had 
mingled  not  at  all  in  its  lighter  and  gayer  circles. 
Later  in  life,  his  manners  were  remarkable  for  their 
ease  and  simplicity;  polished  without  being  formal 
or  affected ;  and,  though  lively  and  animated,  never 
rude  or  boisterous.  He  had  the  graceful  and 
deferential  politeness,  especially  towards  women,  of 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  5/ 

the  old  school,  which  won  favor  without  losing  self- 
respect.  What  is  said  of  his  talking  "  in  regular-built 
sentences,  like  a  book/'  was  not  true  of  his  conver 
sation  at  a  later  period,  though  it  may  have  been 
when  he  was  young,  and  had  derived  his  knowledge 
more  from  books  than  from  men.  "  The  precision  and 
good  sense  "  with  which  young  Atherton,  was  so  "much 
struck,"  remained  with  him  to  the  close  of  life.  Yet 
he  was  precise  in  no  other  sense  than  that  of  being 
accurate  in  his  use  of  language,  and  cautious  in 
the  statement  of  facts.  There  was  110  affectation  of 
elegance  or  precision  in  his  conversation,  which,  on 
the  contrary,  was  distinguished  for  its  variety  and  its 
freedom,  never  running  into  discussion,  or  speech- 
making,  nor  roughening  into  controversy  and  contra 
diction.  He  was  frank  and  fearless,  yet  modest,  in 
the  avowal  of  his  own  opinions,  and  courteous,  though 
explicit,  in  his  treatment  of  others. 

Though,  in  leaving  Amherst,  he  had  not  intended 
to  abandon  the  law,  he  found  in  the  wishes  and 
prejudices  of  his  parents  a  barrier  to  its  farther  pros 
ecution,  which  was  not  easily  surmounted.  ^Their 
aversion  to  the  law,  as  a  profession,  strong  at  first, 
seemed  to  have  increased  with  time.  "After  spend 
ing,"  he  says,  "more  than  a  month  with  my  parents, 
embarrassed  and  perplexed  with  doubts  what  course 
to  pursue,  nry  father,  with  a  view  to  fix  me  to  the 
cultivation  of  the  soil,  proposed  to  purchase  for  me  a 


58  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

house,  and  about  sixty  acres  of  land,  called  the  Dear 
born  place,  in  the  centre  of  the  town.  In  July,  the 
bargain  was  made,  and  on  the  4th  of  September,  I 
received  a  deed  of  it."  This  was  the  homestead, 
afterwards  greatly  enlarged,  on  which  he  went  to 
live  in  the  succeeding  spring,  boarding  with  his 
tenant,  and  superintending  his  operations,  and  where 
he  continued  to  reside  till  his  death.  On  it  his 
remains  now  repose  in  the  family  cemetery.  * 

^Che  strong  aversion  of  his  parents  to  the  law,  and 
his  somewhat  advanced  age,  made  him  doubt  whether 
some  other  employment  might  not,  on  the  whole,  be 
as  well  for  him.  In  the  meantime,  his  being  drawn  to 
serve  on  the  jury  brought  the  law  again  more  forcibly 
to  his  mind.  This  service,  as  a  juror,  gave  him  an 
insight  into  the  modes  in  which  juries  proceed,  the 
view  they  take  of  witnesses,  the  motives  which 


*  One  day,  while  in  doubt  on  the  subject  of  his  future  pursuits,  he  was 
overtaken,  as  he  was  walking  from  Epping  Corner  to  his  father's  house,  by 
Arthur  Livermore,  afterwards  Chief  Justice  of  the  state.  As  they  came 
opposite  the  Dearborn  place,  my  father  said,  "  Wrhat  do  you  think  of  this 
situation  r  "  Livermore  replied,  "It  is  a  beautiful  one."  "  "Well,"  said  his 
companion.  "  my  father  offers  to  buy  it  for  me  on  condition  that  I  will  give 
up  the  law,  and  turn  farmer;  what  would  you  do?"  "Take  it,"  said 
Livermore  :  "  It  will  make  you  at  once  an  independent  man.  If  you  still 
prefer  the  law,  your  father  will  not  be  so  unreasonable  as  finally  to  withstand 
your  wishes."  "But  I  will  not  deceive  him,"  said  my  father;  "he  shall 
hare  the  farm  back  again  if  I  study  law."  "  In  the  meantime  take  the 
land,"  said  Livermore  laughing,  as  they  parted.  Livermore,  in  telling 
me  this  anecdote,  more  than  sixty  years  afterwards,  added,  "This  was  the 
second  time  I  had  seen  your  fatiher.  The  first  was  at  Ilolderness,  when  he 
preached  to  a  roornfull  of  earnest  and  excited  hearers,  and  there  are  old  men 
still  alive,  who  have  not  forgotten  the  occasion  any  more  than  I  have." 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  59 

influence  them,  and  the  ease  with  which  the  majority 
yield  to  the  opinions  of  one  or  two  controling  minds 
on  the  panel,  which  was,  he  said,  of  great  use  to  him 
in  understanding  their  humors,  and  in  managing  cases 
before  them,  when,  in  after  life,  he  had  himself  to 
address  a  jury. 

In  March,  1785,  he  was  elected  to  represent  his 
town  in  the  legislature.  His  religious  opinions  had 
been  urged  against  him  in  the  canvass;  and  he  was 
told  that  his  seat  would  be  contested  on  the  ground 
that  he  was  not  "  of  the  Protestant  religion."  But 
no  such  objection  was  made  to  him,  and  he  retained 
his  seat  during  the  three  sessions,  which  the  legisla 
ture  held  that  year.  "In  the  first,"  he  says,  "I  took 
little  part  in  debate,  but  was  attentive  to  every 
transaction ;  formed  my  opinions,  and  acted  from  my 
own  judgment  of  things.  At  the  second  session,  I 
entered  my  protest,  singly  and  alone,  against  the  bill 
for  the  recovery  of  small  debts  in  an  expeditious 
way  and  manner ;  principally  on  the  ground  that  it 
was  unconstitutional.  The  courts  so  pronounced  it, 
and  the  succeeding  legislature  repealed  the  law." 
This  protest,  thus  made,  "  singly  and  alone,"  is  worthy 
of  notice,  as  a  specimen  of  that  fearless  discharge  of 
duty  according  to  his  own  sense  of  right,  uninfluenced 
by  numbers,  and  unmoved  by  threats  or  flattery, 
which  distinguished  him  through  life,  and  of  which 
many  examples  will  be  found  in  this  narrative. 


60  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

He  now  returned  once  more  to  the  subject  of  a 
profession,  and  resolved,  late  as  it  was  in  life,  to 
commence  the  study  of  the  law,  "if,"  he  says,  "the 
consent  of  my  parents  could  be  obtained.  After 
many  applications  and  remonstrances,  that  consent," 
he  adds,  "was  reluctantly  yielded."  This  deference  to 
parental  authority,  which  had  so  long  held  him  back, 
is  worthy  of  remark,  as  showing  the  character  of  the 
man.  He  was  now  in  his  twenty-seventh  year;  a 
landholder ;  one  of  the  fathers  of  the  town,  its  repre 
sentative  in  the  legislature,  and,  as  such,  a  lawgiver 
and  ruler  in  the  land ;  yet  he  was  submissive  to  the 
parental  yoke,  even  when  it  bore  heavily  on  his 
dearest  wishes  and  most  cherished  desires.  His  father, 
partaking  largely  in  the  prejudices  of  the  times, 
hardly  believed  there  could  be  an  honest  lawyer; 
and  the  simple  piety  of  his  mother  still  hoped  to  win 
back  her  favorite  son  to  the  service  of  the  altar. 
These  prejudices  and  this  desire  gave  way,  however, 
at  length,  to  what  they  could  not  but  perceive  was 
the  steady  bent  of  his  mind.  The  mother  yielded 
first,  and  his  father  finally  said,  "Go  then,  William,  if 
you  must;  it  is  a  bad  company 'you  are  going  into — 
the  lawyers;  but  I  can  trust  you,  even  there.  They 
may  not,"  he  added,  "be  so  bad  after  all.  There  are 
dishonest  farmers,  and  even  dishonest  Christians;  why 
not  then,  honest  lawyers?"  In  a  word,  having  made 
up  his  mind  that  his  son  must  be  a  lawyer,  the  old 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  61 

gentleman  began  to  look  on  the  profession  with  some 
complacency,  and  lived  long  enough  to  feel  proud 
of  his  son's  success  in  it. 

The  only  obstacle  to  his  wishes  being  now  removed, 
he  entered,  on  his  return  from  the  autumnal  session 
of  the  legislature,  November  14th,  1785,  the  office  of 
John  Prentice,  Londonderry.  "If  I  had  remained  in 
Atherton's  office,"  he  says,  in  a  letter  to  Coleman,  "I 
should  now  have  been  eighteen  months  nearer  an 
admission  to  the  bar,  which,  to  a  man  as  old  as  I 
'  am,  is  a  matter  of  some  importance.  But  I  am  now 
reading  law  with  my  parents'  approbation,  and  in 
some  other  respects  I  have  lost  nothing  by  the 
delay."  By  the  terms  of  the  contract,  he  was  to 
remain  two  years  with  Prentice,  do  the  business  of 
the  office,  and  pay  him  five  hundred  dollars  for  his 
board  and  tuition ;  and  two  hundred  more  if  he 
took  the  profits  of  the  justice  business.  This  last  he 
soon  determined  not  to  take.  The  income  from 
this  source  was  likely  to  exceed  the  two  hundred 
dollars;  but  he  was  fearful  it  would  tempt  him  to 
encourage  this  species  of  petty  litigation,  at  a  time 
when,  from  his  poverty,  the  temptation  could  not  but 
be  strong,  and  might  betray  him  into  disreputable 
practices.  Considerations  of  this  nature  induced  the 
bar,  some  years  later,  to  prohibit,  on  his  motion, 
students  from  receiving  any  emoluments  from  this 
source. 


62  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLTJMER. 

His  new  instructor,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  college, 
though  probably  not  a  well-read  lawyer,  possessed  a 
respectable  standing  at  the  bar ;  and,  like  Atherton, 
was  afterwards  Attorney  General.  His  law  library 
consisted  at  this  time  of  Blackstone's  Commentaries; 
Wood's  Institutes  of  the  Laws  of  England ;  Hawkins's 
Pleas  of  the  Crown;  Jacobs's  Law  Dictionary;  Salkeld; 
Raymond  and  Strange's  Reports;  the  New  Hamp 
shire  Statutes,  and  a  manuscript  volume  of  Pleas  and 
Declarations.  If  the  reader  is  disposed  to  smile  at 
this  scanty  library,  he  may  be  reminded  of  the 
anecdote  of  Patrick  Henry,  who,  on  applying  for 
admission  to  the  Virginia  bar,  and  being  asked  by 
Mr.  Jefferson,  what  books  he  had  read,  replied  with 
entire  confidence  in  the  extent  of  his  legal  acquire 
ments,  "Coke  upon  Littleton,  and  the  Virginia 
Statutes."  A  New  Hampshire  lawyer,  of  the  same 
period,  was  probably  not  much  deeper  in  book  learn 
ing  than  the  Virginia  orator.  "In  the  simple  and 
happy  times  of  Edward  I,"  says  Lord  Campbell, 
"Glanville,  Bract  on,  and  Fleta  composed  a  complete 
law  library."  In  the  sixteenth  century  the  books  of 
the  common  law  might,  according  to  Howell,  be 
carried  in  a  wheelbarrow.  They  now  go  by  cartloads, 
and  heavy  at  that. 

My  father  resumed  his  legal  studies  with  the  read 
ing  of  Blackstone,  and,  though  the  attractive  style 
and  clear  method  of  the  great  commentator  made  the 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  63 

task  easier  than  he  had  found  it  at  Amherst,  it  was 
still  so  difficult  as  to  bring  his  parents'  wishes  some 
times  to  his  mind.  But  he  soon  became  familiar 
with  his  authors  manner,  saw  the  subjects  discussed 
in  their  true  bearings,  and  relished  daily,  more  and 
more,  the  science  whose  principles  he  wras  now  begin 
ning  to  comprehend.  He  read  the  whole  of  Blackstone 
rapidly  through,  in  the  first  instance,  to  acquire,  in 
this  way,  a  general  idea  of  its  contents ;  and  then 
went  over  it,  more  carefully,  a  second  time,  with  a 
view  to  its  more  thorough  comprehension.  He  devoted 
at  least  ten  hours  a  day  to  this  study,  though  he 
seldom  read  more  than  forty  or  fifty  pages  in  that 
time.  But  these  were  carefully  studied,  or,  if  not 
fully  understood,  at  least,  examined  with  his  best  care 
and  attention.  His  instructor  was  not  much  inclined, 
nor  indeed  always  able,  to  answer  the  questions 
which  he  asked ;  and  the  few  books  within  his  reach 
often  failed  to  furnish  the  desired  information.  Under 
these  circumstances  his  practice  \vas,  after  reading  a 
portion  of  Blackstone,  to  trace  the  subject  through 
other  books ;  and  then,  taking  a  walk  in  some  retired 
place,  to  review  in  his  mind  the  substance  of  what  he 
had  read,  examining  the  relations  of  one  part  with 
another,  and  of  the  whole  with  what  he  had  learned 
before,  till  he  felt  himself  master  of  the  lesson,  and 
prepared  to  go  farther.  These  walks,  extending 
sometimes  several  miles  from  his  home,  gave  him  the 


G4  LIFE     OP     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

advantage  at  once  of  exercise,  and  of  study  and  reflec 
tion.  Thus  lie  went  slowly,  but  surely  and  regularly, 
through  the  Commentaries,  connecting  them,  as  he 
proceeded,  with  whatever  he  could  gather  on  each 
subject  from  other  sources;  till  the  whole  system  of 
the  English  law  stood  at  length  before  him,  with  a 
clearness  of  outline,  and  distinctness  of  parts,  which 
never  afterwards  faded  from  his  memory,  and  which 
subsequent  study,  aided  by  long-continued  and  assid 
uous  practice,  enabled  him  finally  to  fill  out  with 
great  accuracy  and  precision  .in  its  minor  relations 
and  minute  details. 

On  the  important  subject  of  Pleas  and  Pleading, 
Prentice  had  no  books,  except  a  manuscript  volume 
of  forms,  said  to  have  been  collected  by  Theophilus 
Parsons.  This  the  student  copied,  and  added  to  it, 
in  the  course  of  his  practice,  such  other  pleas  and 
declarations  as  he  thought  worthy  of  preservation, 
whether  drawn  by  himself,  or  derived  from  other 
sources.  lie,  at  the  same  time,  took  copious  notes  of 
his  reading,  and  formed  abstracts  and  digests  of  the 
law  under  separate  heads,  thus  reducing  his  knowledge 
to  a  regular  system. 

In  these  assiduous  labors,  the  period  of  his  legal 
studies  passed  rapidly  away.  Every  day  added  some 
thing  to  his  knowledge,  and  more  to  the  pleasure 
which  his  studies  gave  him.  lie  had  found,  at  length, 
his  true  destination ;  and  he  labored  in  it  with  zeal, 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK.  65 

heightened  by  regret  at  the  thought  of  the  years  spent 
by  him  in  less  congenial  persuits.  These  years  had  not, 
however.,  been  lost  upon  him.  Besides  the  severe 
mental  discipline  through  which  he  had  passed,  they 
had  made  him  acquainted  with  many  aspects  of 
society,  and  brought  before  him,  for  keen  inspection, 
the  minds  and  the  manners  of  men  in  the  various 
walks  of  life,  and  their  modes  and  motives  of  action. 
Nor  was  this  kind  of  experience  likely  soon  to  fail 
him. 

In  February,  1786,  he  took  his  seat  once  more  in  the 
legislature,  which  met  at  Portsmouth,  and  continued 
in  session  till  early  in  March.  He  bore  an  active  part 
in  the  business  of  the  House,  and  began  now  to  dis 
play  something  of  those  talents  and  attainments 
which  gave  him,  at  a  later  period,  a  commanding 
influence  in  the  state.  He  cultivated  the  acquaint 
ance  of  the  leading  men,  both  in  and  out  of  the 
legislature;  and  came  to  understand  better  than 
before  the  characters  of  public  men,  and  the  interests 
and  the  feelings  which  prevail  in  the  political  and 
the  civil  walks  of  life. 

After  an  absence  of  six  or  seven  weeks,  he  returned 
with  fresh  alacrity  to  his  legal  studies.  Alternately 
a  law-student  and  a  law-maker,  his  thoughts  were 
turned  to  practical  results,  rather  than  to  abstract  prin 
ciples,  or  theoretical  deductions ;  and  this  predilection 
was  ever  after  the  marked  characteristic  of  his  mind, 


66  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

which  was  little  given  to  speculation,  and  not  at  all 
to  untried  experiments  in  pursuit  of  imaginary  good. 

As  he  no  longer  resided  in  Epping  he  was  not,  this 
year,  a  candidate  for  re-election  to  the  House.  He 
however  attended  the  Legislature  at  its  June  session 
in  Concord,  where  he  was  employed  in  draughting 
bills,  and  supporting  petitions  before  committees  of 
the  two  houses ;  extending  in  the  mean  time  his 
acquaintance  with  public  men,  watching  the  progress 
of  public  measures  and,  in  some  instances,  influencing 
their  course. 

The  aspect  of  the  times  was  indeed  dark  and 
gloomy,  and  had  been  so  for  several  years.  The 
period  from  the  termination  of  the  war  to  the  estab 
lishment  of  the  general  government,  if  not  so  stirring 
as  the  preceding,  was  one  of  the  most  important  and 
trying  in  the  history  of  the  country, — a  period  of 
depression  and  distress  such  as  had  hardly  been 
felt  in  the  sharpest  crisis  of  the  war  itself.  The 
close  of  hostilities  with  England  brought  with  it 
no  relief  to  the  sufferings  of  the  people,  but  seemed 
for  a  time  rather  to  augment  them.  A  feeling  of  very 
general  discontent  pervaded  the  public  mind,  no 
longer  held  in  check  by  a  foreign  foe.  The  govern 
ment  was  weak  and  inefficient,  the  people  poor  and 
in  debt,  credit  both  public  and  private  impaired,  or 
rather  well  nigh  destroyed.  A  depreciated  paper 
currency  took  the  place  of  specie ;  tender-laws  and 


LIFE    OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER.  67 

the  further  issues  of  paper  were  loudly  called  for 
by  the  discontented  and  debtor  party,  as  the  only 
remedy  for  the  great  and  acknowledged  evils  of  the 
times;  and  the  courts  of  law  were  more  than  ever 
surrounded  by  mobs,  whose  avowed  purpose  was  to 
prevent  the  judges  from  proceeding  in  the  trial  of 
cases.  An  incident  of  this  kind  had  occurred  a  few 
years  earlier,  which  impressed  Mr.  Plumer  deeply 
with  a  sense  of  the  necessity  of  a  more  energetic  and 
efficient  government;  and  which  was  followed  at  a 
later  period,  by  a  similar  outbreak  of  popular  feeling, 
in  suppressing  which  he  was  himself  actively  engaged. 
In  October,  1782,  as  the  Judges  of  the  Superior 
Court,  accompanied  by  John  Sullivan,  then  Attorney 
General,  were  approaching  the  town  of  Keene,  where 
the  general  uneasiness  was  augmented  by  the  contro 
versy  with  Vermont,  they  were  informed  that  the 
village  was  full  of  people,  whose  object  was  to  compel 
the  court  to  adjourn  without  trying  any  cases.  On 
the  receipt  of  the  information,  the  cavalcade  halted 
in  a  small  wood,  to  consult  as  to  the  course  proper  to 
be  adopted  in  this  emergency  ;  and  the  result  was  that 
Sullivan  undertook  to  get  the  court,  with  as  little  loss 
of  dignity  as  might  be,  out  of  the  hands  of  the  mob, 
who,  if  resolute,  must,  it  was  foreseen,  have  very 
much  their  own  way,  as  the  court  had  no  armed 
force  at  its  command,  and  the  posse  comitatiis  would  in 
vain  have  been  called  to  their  aid,  in  the  then  excited 


68  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEB. 

state  of  the  public  mind.  Taking  from  the  portman 
teau  of  his  servant  his  regimentals,  which  it  seems 
he  had  with  him,  G  en.  Sullivan  arrayed  himself  in  his 
full  military  attire — the  blue  coat  and  bright  buttons 
which  he  had  worn  in  the  retreat  from  Long  Island, 
the  cocked  hat  whose  plume  had  nodded  over  the 
foe  at  Brandywine,  and  the  sword  which  at  G  erman- 
town  had  flashed  defiance  in  the  front  of  battle.  Thus 
equipped,  he  mounted  the  powerful  gray  horse  which 
he  usually  rode,  and,  preceding  the  court,  conducted 
them  into  the  town.  A  portion  of  the  people  mounted 
on  horseback  had  come  out  to  meet  them.  These  he 
ordered  to  fall  in,  two  and  two,  behind  the  court, 
Arthur  Livermore,  then  a  youth  of  sixteen,  acting  as 
his  volunteer  aid  on  the  occasion.  The  grounds  sur 
rounding  the  court-house  were  filled  with  men,  many 
of  them  armed,  who,  though  giving  way  to  the  court 
as  they  entered,  were  sullen  in  their  aspect,  and  reso 
lute  in  their  purpose  to  prevent  the  transaction  of 
business. 

The  judges  having  taken  their  seats,  the  court  was 
opened  in  due  form  by  the  crier,  while  the  crowd 
rushed  tumultuously  in,  and  filled  the  house.  In  the 
meantime,  Sullivan,  who  was  a  man  of  fine  personal 
appearance,  dignified  aspect,  and  commanding  deport 
ment,  was  seen  standing  erect  in  the  clerk's  desk, 
surveying  the  crowd  calmly,  but  resolutely.  In  it 
were  many  who  had  recently  served  under  him  in 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  69 

the  war.  Turning  slowly  from  side  to  side  he  recognis 
ed  among  them  here  perhaps  an  officer,  and  there  a 
soldier ;  and  returned  with  a  slight  nod  or  motion  of 
the  hand  their  respectful  salutations.  This  mutual  sur 
vey  and  recognition  continued  for  some  time,  amidst 
the  profound  silence  of  all  around  ;  while  the  instinct 
of  obedience  was  working  strongly  in  the  mass,  who 
felt  the  presence,  and  involuntarily  obeyed  the  mo 
tions  of  their  old  commander.  Slowly  and  with 
composure  he  now  took  off  his  cocked  hat,  disclosing 
a  profusion  of  white  powdered  hair,  and  laid  it 
deliberately  on  the  table.  Looking  round  again  with 
an  air  of  authority,  he  next  unbelted  the  long  staff- 
like  sword  from  his  side,  and  laid  it  by  the  hat.  Per 
ceiving,  at  this  moment,  some  stir  in  the  crowd,  he 
hastily  resumed  the  sword,  drew  the  blade  halfway 
from  the  scabbard,  as  if  for  immediate  use,  and  then 
replaced  it  deliberately  on  the  table.  All  eyes  were 
now  fixed  intently  on  him,  as  he  addressed  the 
assembly,  and  demanded  of  them  why  they  had  come 
in  this  tumultuous  manner  before  the  court.  A  cry 
at  once  arose  of  "  The  Petition,  the  Petition,"  and  a 
committee  stepped  forward  with  a  huge  roll  of  paper, 
which  they  were  about  to  present,  when  Sullivan  told 
them,  if  they  had  anything  to  offer  to  the  court,  he 
would  lay  it  before  them.  He  accordingly  received 
it,  and,  after  looking  it  over,  presented  it  to  the  court, 
saying  that  it  contained  matter  of  grave  import,  which 


70  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

lie  recommended  to  their  honors'  careful  considera 
tion.  The  court  ordered  it  to  be  read  by  the  clerk, 
and  Sullivan  then  addressed  the  people,  courteously, 
but  firmly,  on  the  impropriety  of  any  attempt  to  influ 
ence,  even  by  the  appearance  of  violence,  the  delib 
erations  of  that  high  tribunal ;  and,  telling  them  that 
their  petition  would,  in  due  time,  be  considered  by  the 
court,  he  directed  them  to  withdraw.  Some  hesita 
tion  being  at  first  shown,  he  repeated,  more  sternly, 
and  with  a  repellent  gesture,  the  command  to  with 
draw,  which  was  obeyed,  though  not  without  some 
reluctance  among  the  leaders.  The  court  then  ad 
journed  to  the  next  day,  in  the  hope  that  the  mob 
would  leave  the  town.  In  the  afternoon  Sullivan 
addressed  them  on  the  subject  of  their  complaints, 
and  advised  them  to  return  to  their  homes. 

On  the  opening  of  the  court,  on  the  next  morning, 
the  house  was  full  of  people  impatient  for  the 
expected  answer  to  their  petition.  Sullivan,  now  in 
his  citizen's  dress,  rose,  and,  with  mingled  grace  and 
dignity,  said  that  he  was  instructed  by  the  court  to 
inform  them,  that,  finding  that  they  should  not  be 
able  to  go  through  with  the  very  heavy  civil  docket 
before  them  in  the  short  time  which  they  could  alone 
devote  to  it  before  going  to  another  county,  they 
would  continue  all  causes  in  which  either  party  was 
not  ready  for  a  trial.  On  receiving  this  announce 
ment  the  people  withdrew,  amidst  loud  shouts  of 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK.  71 

hurrah  for  Gen.  Sullivan,"  with  here  and  there  a  faint 
cheer  for  the  court,  which  seemed  on  this  occasion 
to  act  quite  a  subordinate  part  in  the  scene.  The 
moh  thus  carried  in  effect  their  main  point,  that  of 
postponing  the  transaction  of  business;  but  the 
presence  of  mind  and  authority  of  the  Attorney 
General  prevented  their  breaking  out  into  open 
violence,  and  saved  the  court  from  any  personal 
indignity. 

I  received  the  above  account  from  Mr.  Webster, 
a  short  time  before  his  death ;  when,  though  occu 
pied  with  current  events,  he  seemed  to  have  lost  none 
of  his  interest  in  the  past.  He  added,  "Put  this  into 
your  book ;  it  will  show  the  character  of  the  times, 
and  the  kind  of  men  your  father  had  to  deal  with." 
I  repeated  the  story,  soon  after,  to. Judge  Liver- 
more,  who  supplied  the  part  relating  to  himself,  and 
seemed  inclined  to  give  less  prominence  to  Sullivan, 
and  more  to  the  court,  than  Webster  had  done.  He 
retained,  however,  in  extreme  old  age,  a  lively  recol 
lection  of  his  youthful  adventure,  and  of  the  skill  and 
eloquence  of  Sullivan.  "  I  thought,"  he  said,  "  if  I 
could  only  look  and  talk  like  that  man  I  should  want 
nothing  higher  or  better  in  this  world." 

In  Massachusetts  a  similar  condition  of  things,  in  the 
autumn  of  1786,  produced  the  rising  called  Shays's 
rebellion ;  and  in  this  state,  at  an  earlier  period  of 
that  year,  events  seemed  fast  tending  to  a  like  danger- 


72  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

ous  issue.  Town  and  comity  conventions  were  held 
in  various  places,  to  petition  the  Legislature  for  a 
redress  of  grievances,  and  delegations  from  some  of 
these  conventions  were  sent  to  Concord,  in  June  of 
this  year,  to  present  these  petitions,  and  to  carry  out 
the  objects  of  their  appointment. 

Satisfied  from  the  character  of  the  men  and  the 
temper  of  the  times,  that  reasoning  would  be  lost 
upon  them,  my  father,  who,  as  already  stated,  was  at 
Concord,  though  not  a  member,  conceived  the  idea 
of  turning  their  proposed  convention  of  delegates 
into  ridicule,  and  thus  rendering  its  pernicious  pur 
pose  harmless,  lie  was  aided  in  the  project  by 
several  active  young  men,  some  of  whom  were  after 
wards  distinguished  in  the  service  of  the  state.  The 
plan  was  for  these  persons  to  join  the  convention,  to 
take  part  in  its  proceedings,  and  ultimately  to  expose 
the  folly  and  absurdity  of  its  measures  and  pretensions. 

On  entering  the  convention  they  were  received 
without  question,  as  delegates  from  their  respective 
towns,  and  took  at  once  the  lead  in  its  proceedings. 
After  a  debate  of  several  hours,  in  which  the  pre 
tended  delegates,  eleven  in  number,  vied  with  the  true 
ones  in  their  zeal  for  reform,  taking  different  sides, 
however,  to  avoid  an  appearance  of  concert,  a  series 
of  resolutions  was  adopted  by  the  meeting,  and  a 
committee,  of  which  my  father  wras  chairman,  was 
appointed  to  report  a  petition  to  the  Legislature. 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  73 

This  petition,  which  was  reported  the  next  morning, 
embodied  the  substance  of  the  resolutions,  and  was 
unanimously  adopted  by  the  convention.  It  requested 
the  Legislature,  among  other  things,  to  abolish  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas,  to  establish  town  courts,  to 
restrict  the  number  of  lawyers  to  two  in  a  county, 
and  to  provide  for  the  issue  of  state  notes  to  the 
amount  of  three  millions  of  dollars,  the  same  to  be 
a  legal  tender  in  payment  of  all  debts.  These  were 
the  favorite  measures,  especially  the  last,  of  the  dis 
contented  and  debtor  party,  through  the  state;  and 
they  went  not  at  all  beyond  the  popular  demand. 
The  mock  members,  indeed,  with  all  their  disposition 
to  render  the  convention  ridiculous,  could  hardly  keep 
pace  with  the  real  ones,  in  the  extravagance  of  their 
suggestions.  Dr.  Jonathan  Cove,  of  New  Boston,  who 
represented  ten  towns  in  Hillsborough  County,  said, 
"While  we  are  money-making,  'tis  best  to  emit  as 
much  as  will  discharge  all  our  debts,  public  and 
private,  and  leave  enough  to  buy  a  glass  of  grog 
and  a  quid  of  tobacco,  without  being  dunned  for 
them  twenty  times  a  day.  For  these  purposes  I 
move  fliat  the  amount  be  twelve  millions  of  dol 
lars."  It  was  on  my  father's  motion  that  the 
sum  was  finally  fixed  at  "only  three  millions!" 
The  convention  went  in  a  body  to  present  their 
petition  to  the  Legislature,  which  received  them  very 
gravely,  and  laid  their  memorial  on  the  table.  The 


74  LIFE    OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

speaker  and  some  of  the  leading  members  had  been 
informed  of  the  character  of  the  convention,  and 
received  its  visit  with  ceremonious  attention,  or,  as 
one  of  the  delegates  said,  "  with  superfluous  respect." 
On  returning  to  their  place  of  meeting,  my  father 
remonstrated  with  them  warmly  on  their  proceedings, 
and  avowed  his  opposition  to  their  whole  system  of 
measures.  This  sudden  change  of  tone,  in  one  who 
had  been  the  chairman  of  their  committee,  and  the 
draughtsman  of  their  memorial  to  the  Legislature, 
created  not  a  little  surprise,  and  some  indignation,  in 
those  who  did  not  understand  the  trick  which  had 
been  put  upon  them.  After  allowing  these  feelings  to 
explode,  in  some  rather  free  remarks,  from  two  or 
three  of  the  more  earnest  reformers,  one  of  the  mock 
members,  who  thought  the  joke  might  be  carried  a 
little  further,  rose,  and  said  with  great  gravity,  that 
as  doubts  had  arisen  in  some  minds,  whether  the 
convention  was  sufficiently  in  earnest  in  what  they 
had  said  and  done,  this  movement  of  the  worthy 
member  from  Derry  was  intended  to  put  their  cour 
age  to  the  test ;  to  see,  in  short,  if  they  were  indeed 
men  of  true  pluck,  or  cowards  who  could  be'  "driven 
from  their  purpose  by  a  show  of  opposition.  If  he 
found  they  could  stand  fire,  he  was  ready  to  pro 
pose  to  them  more  energetic  measures,  which  would 
compel  the  Legislature  to  comply  with  their  wishes. 
This  speech  was  received  with  loud  applause  by  the 


LIFF     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER.  75 

more  ignorant  and  zealous;  but  the  greater  part 
began  now  to  understand  the  true  state  of  the  case, 
and  the  convention  broke  up  in  disorder,  amid  the 
jeers  of  the  spectators,  and  to  the  sore  mortification 
of  its  original  projectors.  Gove  left  Concord  without 
presenting  the  petition  with  which  he  was  charged, 
and  others  disavowed  their  connection  with  the  con 
vention.  The  ridicule  which  this  brought  upon  them, 
checked  their  activity  for  a  time,  and  prevented  their 
success  with  the  Legislature,  where  they  had  many 
friends,  and  had  felt  great  confidence  of  success.  "  The 
whole  affair,"  writes  the  author  of  this  clever  strata 
gem  to  his  brother,  June  9th,  178G,  "was  so  farcical 
that  the  very  name  of  a  convention  is  here  a  term  of 
reproach." 

But  the  evil  was  too  deeply  rooted  to  be  thus  easily 
removed.  New  conventions  were  called  in  different 
parts  of  the  State,  and  among  others,  one  in  London 
derry,  where  my  father  then  resided.  In  the  Ixock- 
ingham  convention,  held  in  Chester,  it  was  resolved 
to  send  to  Exeter,  where  the  Legislature  was  to  meet 
in  September,  a  body  of  armed  men  to  enforce  their 
claims.  On  the  20th  of  that  month  about  two  hun 
dred  men,  under  the  command  of  Joseph  French  of 
Hampstcad  and  James  Cochrain  of  Pembroke,  some 
armed  with  muskets,  and  others  with  clubs,  marched 
into  Exeter,  and  sent  in  their  petition  to  the  General 
Court,  for  a  redress  of  grievances,  declaring  their 


76  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

intention,  if  it  was  not  granted,  to  do  themselves 
justice.  They  surrounded  the  house  in  which  the 
Legislature  was  in  session,  and,  placing  sentinels  at 
the  doors  and  windows,  demanded  an  immediate 
answer  to  their  petition.  The  House  appointed  a 
committee  on  the  petition ;  but  the  Senate,  under  the 
influence  of  Sullivan,  who  was  now  President  of  the 
State,  and  as  such,  had  a  seat  in  the  Senate,  refused 
to  act  on  the  subject,  while  they  were  thus  besieged 
by  the  mob,  and  proceeded  with  their  ordinary  busi 
ness.  In  the  mean  time  a  party  of  the  friends  of 
order,  among  whom  my  father  was  one,  armed  them 
selves,  and  called  upon  all  good  citizens  to  disperse 
the  mob,  and  thus  set  the  members  of  the  Legislature 
at  liberty.  General  Sullivan  came  out,  accompanied 
by  Nathaniel  Peabody,  who  was  supposed  to  favor 
their  designs,  Ebenezer  Webster,  and  other  officers 
of  the  revolution  and  friends  of  government,  and, 
addressing  the  mob,  ordered  them  to  disperse.  The 
armed  citizens  in  their  rear,  pressing  on  them  at  the 
same  time,  and  calling  for  the  artillery  to  advance, 
though  in  fact  there  was  no  artillery  at  hand,  the  mob 
began  to  disperse,  and  French,  finding  that  the  Legisla 
ture  could  not  be  frightened  into  compliance  with  his 
demands,  ordered  his  men  to  withdraw,  and  retired 
with  them  for  the  night  to  a  distance  from  the  village. 
Sullivan,  no  longer  compelled,  as  at  Keene,  to  yield 
to  the  wishes  of  the  mob,  dispatched  orders  to  the 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  77 

militia,  who  came  in  the  next  morning  to  the 
number  of  nearly  two  thousand  men.  My  father 
with  five  others  had,  in  the  meantime,  arrested 
one  of  the  leaders  of  the  insurrection,  Captain 
John  McKean,  of  Londonderry,  who  had  come  into 
town  to  obtain  intelligence  for  the  insurgents.  On 
being  discovered,  he  drew  a  pistol  and  threatened  to 
shoot  whoever  should  approach  him ;  but  my  father 
closed  in  upon  him  and  made  him  prisoner.  A  party 
sent  to  demand  his  release  was  at  once  seized  and  put 
under  guard.  The  troops,  under  Maj.  Gen.  Joseph 
Cilley,  now  marched  against  the  insurgents,  who  made 
some  show  of  resistance,  but,  on  being  ordered  by 
Major  Cochrain  to  fire,  they  broke  and  fled  in  disor 
der.  "  We  took,"  says  my  father,  "  thirty-nine  prison 
ers,  who,  after  marching  through  our  columns  with 
their  heads  uncovered,  and  hats  under  their  arms, 
the  music  playing  the  Rogue's  March,  were  lodged  in 
jail."  In  Parker's  History  of  Londonderry  it  is  said, 
that  the  troops  were  under  the  command  of  General 
George  Heed  ;  my  father  says,  under  that  of  General 
Cilley.  Reed  may  have  been  present,  and  Cilley  led 
the  charge.  Cilley  was  Major  General  at  this  time, 
and  Reed  Brigadier.  Whiton  says,  "  General  Cilley 
with  a  troop  of  horse  made  a  rapid  charge  on  them." 
The  question  now  arose  as  to  what  should  be  their 
punishment.  They  had  been  guilty,  perhaps  of 
treason,  certainly  of  some  high  offence.  The  leaders 


78  LIFE    OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

were  brought  before  the  two  Houses  in  convention. 
French,  who  seems  to  have  been  an  honest,  but  delud 
ed  man,  made  very  humble  supplications  for  his  life. 
Cochrain,  who  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  revolution, 
plead  for  pardon  with  some  self-respect,  urging  his 
past  services,  and  stating,  as  did  French,  that  he  had 
been  encouraged  in  the  course  he  had  taken,  by  men 
of  high  standing  in  the  state,  some  of  them  members 
of  the  Legislature,  who,  when  the  hour  of  trial  came, 
had  kept  out  of  sight,  and  now  denied  all  connection 
with  them.  "  I  was  now  as  anxious,"  says  my  father, 
in  a  letter  to  his  friend  John  Hale,  (Sept.  26th,  1786,) 
"to have  these  men  discharged,  as  I  had  been  busy 
on  Wednesday  in  capturing  them.  As  usual  in  such 
cases,  those  who  were  forward  in  taking  them  were 
inclined  to  mercy,  while  those,  who  in  the  hour  of 
danger  were  in  the  background,  were  the  most  violent 
against  the  deluded  prisoners.  They  will,  I  trust,  be 
dismissed,  reserving  a  few  only  of  the  leaders  for 
punishment."  This  was  accordingly  done.  Those 
who  were  church  members  were  dealt  with  by  their 
churches ;  those  who  were  officers  in  the  militia  were 
dismissed  from  the  service.  Most  of  them  were 
indicted,  but  allowed,  at  the  next  term  of  the  Court, 
to  escape  without  punishment.  It  was  deemed  good 
policy,  as  no  blood  had  been  shed,  to  treat  this  first 
attempt  at  armed  resistance  to  the  government  with 
lenity ;  yet  so  as  to  vindicate  the  violated  authority 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  79 

of  the  law,  thus  attacked  at  the  fountain  head.  French, 
the  Wat  Tyler  of  this  rebellion,  was  a  well-meaning, 
but  vain  and  conceited  man,  whom  the  agitations  of 
the  times  had  thrown  upon  the  surface,  as  the  largest 
bubble  amid  the  froth  and  feculence  of  an  uneasy 
and  restless  populace.  On  leaving  home  with  his 
party,  he  had  told  his  townsmen  who  staid  behind, 
that  he  was  going  on  an  important  public  mission,  in 
which  he  might  himself  make  no  mean  figure,  and 
that  they  must  not  be  too  much  surprised  if,  within  a 
week,  they  should  hear  that  he,  whom  they  had  hith 
erto  known  as  plain  Joe  French,  was  no  longer  their 
neighbor  and  equal  merely,  but  President  and  Com 
mander  in  Chief  of  the  State  of  New  Hampshire ! 
These  visions  of  power  and  of  glory  had,  in  the  brief 
space  of  three  days,  vanished  from  his  sight,  and  he 
found  himself  a  despised  prisoner  and  a  suppliant 
for  his  life.* 

This  was  the  only  occasion  on  which  my  father  ever 
bore  arms,  or  made  any  approach  to  the  character  of 
a  soldier.  He  entered  into  the  contest  with  the  more 
zeal,  as  he  looked  on  mob-law  as  subversive  of  the 
first  principles  of  a  free  government,  and  was  jealous 
of  all  interference  with  the  constituted  authorities. 
"  If  the  Legislature,"  he  wrote  to  Hale,  while  the  con 
test  was  still  undecided,  "  will  maintain  their  dignity 

*  I  had  this  anecdote  of  the  speech  of  French  to  his  townsmen,  from 
Daniel  Webster,  whose  father  was  at  Exeter  at  the  time. 


80  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

within  their  own  walls,  they  will  receive  ample  sup 
port  and  reverence  without.  They  ought  to  give  the 
tone,  and  not  receive  it  from  the  people.  The  few,  and 
not  the  many,  are  the  wise,  and  ought  to  bear  rule/' 

On  his  return  to  Londonderry,  he  was  told  that  his 
activity  in  suppressing  the  insurrection  had  exasper 
ated  the  people  of  the  town,  many  of  whom  had 
been  out  with  French  and  Cochrain;  and  that  it 
would  not  be  safe  for  him  to  show  himself  among 
them.  On  hearing  these  threats,  he  mounted  his 
horse  the  next  morning,  and  rode  leisurely  and  alone 
through  the  infected  district,  stopping  to  converse 
with  those  he  met,  and  calling  on  several  whom  he 
had  seen  among  the  insurgents  at  Exeter.  He  was 
received  by  some  with  congratulations  on  his  courage 
and  activity,  and  with  jests  on  their  own  ill-luck  and 
folly ;  by  others  with  abject  fawning  and  humility,  or 
with  awkwardly  assumed  respect ;  but  by  none  with 
menace,  reproach,  or  disrespect.  They  felt  that  the 
day  for  violence  had  gone  by,  and  that  he  was  not  a 
man  whom  they  could  insult  with  impunity.  Many 
of  them  afterwards  acknowledged  that  he  deserved 
their  respect  far  more  than  those  cunning  and  cow 
ardly  men,  who  had  urged  them  on  in  the  first 
instance,  and  then  deserted  and  denounced  them. 

From  this  excursion  into  the  field  of  politics,  I 
might  almost  say  of  wrar,  he  gladly  returned  early  in 
October  to  the  quiet  of  his  legal  studies,  and  to  the 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  81 

duties  of  the  office.  Prentice,  who  was  indolent  and 
careless,  willingly  left  him  to  manage  the  business  in 
his  own  way,  which  he  as  willingly  undertook. 

He  had  a  natural  aptitude  for  business ;  thinking 
nothing  of  the  labor,  or  rather  seeming  io  love  it  on 
its  own  account.  For  the  ensuing  year,  1787,  there 
fore,  he  continued  to  reside  with  Prentice,  pursuing 
with  great  assiduity  and  with  increasing  pleasure  his 
legal  studies ;  attending  the  courts  while  in  session, 
and  doing  the  office  and  now  also  the  justice  business, 
which  last  was  then  an  extensive  branch  of  practice. 

He  had  not  expected  to  be  admitted  to  the  bar 
till  February  of  the  next  year,  as  he  had  been  absent 
nearly  three  months  out  of  the  two  years  then  requir 
ed.  But,  he  being  at  Exeter  in  November,  178  7,  the 
bar,  without  any  previous  examination,  and  without 
his  knowledge,  recommended  him  to  the  court,  by 
which  he  was  at  once*  admitted  to  practice.  John 
Hale,  of  Portsmouth,  and  Jonathan  Steele,  of  Peter 
borough,  were  admitted  at  the  same  time.  With 
Hale,  who  was  a  man  of  fine  talents,  he  was  on  terms 
of  great  intimacy,  and  they  corresponded  till  the 
death  of  Hale,  Steele  was  afterwards  a  Judge  of  the 
Superior  Court.  On  being  admitted  to  the  bar,  my 
father  returned  to  Epping,  went  to  live  on  his  farm, 
and  opened  an  office  there.  His  business  was  con 
siderable  from  the  first,  and  soon  became  extensive. 

The  time  which  he  had  passed  at  Londonderry  had 


82  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

been  pleasantly  and  profitably  employed,  and  lie  had 
many  reasons  ever  after  to  remember  it  with  satis 
faction.  Young,  and  ambitious  of  distinction,  orig 
inal  and  peculiar  in  many  of  his  views,  eager  in  the 
pursuit  of  knowledge,  and  ready  alike  to  impart  and 
to  receive  information,  he  entered  earnestly  into  what 
ever  he  undertook,  and  felt  himself  equally  happy 
and  well-employed,  whether  in  study,  in  action,  or  in 
society ;  finding  in  each  full  occupation  for  all  his 
powers,  now  first  conscious  of  their  appropriate  sphere 
of  activity  and  exertion. 

The  Scotch  Irish  of  Derry  were  a  people  distin 
guished  from  their  neighbors  by  many  peculiar 
customs  and  striking  traits  of  character.  Combining 
the  broad  humor  of  the  Irish  with  the  canny  shrewd 
ness  of  their  Scottish  ancestors,  they  were  a  deeply- 
marked,  strong-willed,  and  eccentric  people.  Their 
originality,  energy,  and  decision  of  character  were 
akin  to  his  own,  and  led  to  mutual  respect  and  esteem ; 
though  on  many  subjects  he  differed  widely  from 
them.  I  was  told,  many  years  ago,  by  the  noted  sur 
veyor  and  mathematician,  John  McDuffee,  who  was 
a  Derry  man,  that  my  father  made  a  very  strong 
impression  on  all  who  knew  him  at  that  time ;  that 
he  was  full,  to  overflowing,  of  life  and  activity, — 
a  life  which  seemed  ever  happy  and  joyous,  and  an 
activity  which  pushed  itself  out  in  every  direction ; 
prompt  in  business,  and  ready  in  debate  ;  a  great  stu- 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  83 

dent,  and  a  lively  and  original  talker,  whose  sharp  say 
ings  were  in  every  body's  mouth,  and  whose  heterodox 
opinions  brought  down  on  him  the  censure  of  the  old 
and  the  rigid,  while  they  excited  the  wonder  and 
the  admiration  of  younger  and  more  inquisitive 
minds. 

In  the  spring  or  early  summer  of  this  year,  1787, 
he  formed  the  acquaintance  of  one  who  was  thence 
forth  to  be  the  companion  of  his  leisure,  the  mother 
of  his  children,  and  the  sharer,  for  good  or  evil,  of  his 
hopes  and  his  fears,  his  prosperous  and  his  adverse  for 
tunes.  This  was  Sally  Fowler,  the  only  daughter  of 
Philip  Fowler,  a  respectable  farmer  of  New  Market. 
He  had  seen  her  some  years  before,  at  the  house  of 
her  father,  whom  he  had  visited  on  business.  On 
returning  home  he  told  his  mother  that  he  had  seen 
the  person  whom  he  should  choose  for  a  wife,  if  he 
should  ever  entertain  serious  thoughts  of  marriage. 
Time  and  change  passed  over  him,  and  as  years 
advanced,  and  the  want  of  some  object  on  which  his 
affections  might  repose  began  to  be  deeply  felt,  it  is 
not  strange  that  on  meeting  again  with  Miss  Fowler, 
who  was  now  on  a  visit  to  her  friends  in  Londonderry, 
his  old  feelings  towards  her  should  revive  with  more 
than  their  original  force.  It  was  during  the  Derry 
Fair,  which  brought  together  people  from  all  the 
neighboring  towns,  and  at  a  mock  court  in  which  he 
and  several  other  young  men  took  part,  that  she  first 


84  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

witnessed  the  display  of  liis  oratorical  powers.  On 
leaving  the  house  the  girls  were  discussing  the  merits 
of  the  several  speakers,  and  most  of  them  gave  the 
preference  to  the  ready  wit  and  handsome  person  of 
Moses  L.  Neal.  "  A  lucky  girl  is  she/'  said  her  cousin, 
"  who  gets  that  bonny  bairn  for  a  husband."  "  Ay, 
ay/'  was  the  ready  response  of  several  voices.  "No/' 
said  my  mother ;  "  if  I  were  to  choose,  it  would  be 
that  Epping  lawyer,  clearly  before  all  the  rest." 
"  What,"  said  her  lively  cousin,  "  with  his  lean  figure, 
long  nose,  and  dark  complexion  ?"  "  Yes,"  was  the 
prompt  answer,  "  with  his  manly  face,  and  his  bright, 
beautiful  eyes;  and  what  is  more,"  she  added,  "with 
his  good  sense,  and  his  right  feeling.  I  think  he  is 
superior  to  any  of  them."  The  preference  thus  cas 
ually  expressed,  followed  soon  by  an  avowal  of  like 
feelings  on  his  part,  ripened  into  an  attachment  which 
lasted  in  both  to  the  close  of  life. 

She  is  described  as  being  at  this  time  of  a  singu 
larly  fair  complexion,  fine  person,  possessing  great 
sweetness  of  disposition,  pleasing  manners,  sound  sense, 
and  good  judgment.  That  she  was  all  this,  even  to 
the  fair  complexion  and  fine  person,  those  who  knew 
her  in  old  age  will  readily  believe. 

It  was  not  till  after  full  acquaintance  that  they 
were  finally  and  formally  engaged  to  each  other.  In 
.this  most  important  step  of  life  Mr.  Plumer  had,  as 
-usual  with  him,  the  severe  check  of  reason  over  his 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  85 

affections.  He  made  no  formal  proffer  of  himself  till 
he  was  satisfied  in  his  own  mind  that  the  attachment 
was,  on  his  part,  not  the  mere  impulse  of  hasty  passion, 
but  a  deliberate  purpose,  moved  by  feeling  indeed, 
yet  guided  by  reason;  and  that  on  her  part  too  it 
was  equally  sincere  and  deep-rooted.  Satisfied  of 
the  depth  and  sincerity  of  their  mutual  attachment, 
he  gave  himself  to  this  new  passion  with  his  usual 
directness,  and  with  even  more  than  his  usual  ardor. 
Between  the  excitements  of  hope,  love  and  ambition, 
study  and  business,  he  felt  the  old  vigor  and  warmth 
of  his  intellect  and  his  heart,  which  had  been  first 
roused  and  excited'  by  the  fever  of  his  religious  enthu 
siasm,  and  then  perplexed  and  cooled  by  the  disgust 
of  his  subsequent  disappointment  and  unbelief,  come 
back  to  him  in  their  pristine  strength  and  purity,  in 
brighter  prospects,  in  purer  hopes,  and  nobler  aspi 
rations  of  enjoyment  for  himself,  and  usefulness  to 
others. 

The  year  which  followed  this  engagement  was 
among  the  happiest  of  his  life.  The  vague  feeling  of 
a  want  of  object  no  longer  remained.  His  doubts, 
fears  and  anxieties  wrere  relieved,  his  ambition  was 
excited,  and  his  scheme  of  life  was  shaping  itself  into 
definite  purpose,  with  a  steady  aim  to  speedy  action. 

Love  and  fortune-telling  have  been  immemorial- 
ly  connected,  and  they  were  so  in  this  case.  Just 
before  my  mother  went  to  Derry,  an  old  woman  came 


86  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

in,  one  day,  who  offered  to  tell  her  fortune.  This 
proposal  she  at  first  declined,  but  consented  at  the 
request  of  her  mother.  After  examining  her  hand, 
and  inspecting  the  dregs  of  a  cup  of  tea,  the  sibyl 
proceeded  with  her  prediction:  "You  are  courted," 
she  said, "  by  a  widower.  He  is  young  and  handsome, 
of  a  light  complexion,  and  dressed  in  black."  "  You 
have  been  inquiring  of  the  neighbors,"  said  my 
mother,  who  had  in  fact  received  the  addresses  of  a 
person  answering  to  this  description,  whom  on  nearer 
acquaintance  she  had  determined  to  reject.  "But 
you  will  not  marry  him,"  added  the  fortune-teller. 
Here  the  mother,  who  favored  the  match,  began  to 
look  serious,  and  said,  "  None  of  your  nonsense."  She, 
however,  went  on,  "  You  will  not  marry  him.  Here," 
pointing  to  another  part  of  the  cup,  "  is  your  hus 
band, — this  tall,  dark  complexioned  man,  with  black 
eyes  and  black  hair.  He  will  carry  you  into  a  new 
house  painted  red,  with  a  number  of  old  houses  near 
it.  These  will  be  pulled  down  and  new  ones  built 
You  will  have  six  children.  Your  husband  will  be 
come  rich,  and  arrive  at  great  honors ;  and  you  will 
both  live  to  a  good  old  age."  In  telling  me  this  story, 
my  mother  added,  "  I  did  not  then  believe  a  word 
that  she  said,  except  what  I  supposed  she  had  learned 
from  the  neighbors ;  nor  do  I  now  know  what  to  think 
of  it.  One  thing  is  certain,  that  all  she  told  me  has  since 
come  to  pass.  You  may  call  it  a  lucky  guess,  or  what 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  87 

you  will ;  but  the  facts  are  as  I  have  told  you."  The 
old  woman  left  the  house  immediately;  and,  on 
inquiry,  they  could  learn  nothing  of  her  in  the 
neighborhood.  No  one  had  seen  her,  and  she  never 
came  to  see  them  again.  My  father,  who  had  no  faith 
in  such  stories,  said  that  the  old  woman  was  doubt 
less  some  friend  of  his,  (though  he  knew  nothing  of 
her,)  whose  good  opinion  of  him  was  the  secret  of  her 
divination.  Yet,  while  laughing  at  my  mother  for 
her  credulity  in  this  case,  he  admitted  that  the  circum 
stances  were  remarkable ;  and  said  that  he  had  himself, 
more  than  once,  seen  and  heard  things,  apparently  su 
pernatural,  which  he  could  neither  doubt  or  explain 
away.  In  these  days  of  clairvoyance  and  spiritual 
revelations,  the  facts  in  this  case  seem  worth  relat 
ing,  as  adding  something  authentic  to  the  mass  of 
evidence,  out  of  which  a  consistent  theory  may  in 
time  be  constructed  on  the  subject.  There  are  already 
facts  too  well  authenticated  to  admit  of  doubt,  and  too 
numerous  to  be  set  aside  on  the  score  of  improbability, 
pointing  to  conclusions  strange  and  most  unexpected, 
which  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  neither  blindly  to 
reject,  nor  rashly  to  admit. 

After  her  return  to  New  Market  my  mother  met 
with  an  accident  which  threatened  to  deprive  her  of 
the  use  of  one  of  her  hands,  and,  with  the  high  spirit 
of  a  woman  who  felt  that  she  ought  not  to  be  a 
burden  to  the  man  whom  she  loved,  she  told  him,  with 


88  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

tears  but  with  fixed  purpose,  that  she  could  never 
consent  to  go  maimed  or  a  cripple  into  his  house,  and 
that  he  must  therefore  consider  their  engagement  as 
now  at  an  end.  He  remonstrated  strongly  against 
this  decision,  and  said  that  however  it  resulted  she 
would  be  equally  dear  to  him,  and  he  would  take  no 
denial  on  such  grounds.  She  gave  him,  however,  no 
hope,  except  in  the  event  of  recovery.  He  returned, 
full  of  sorrow,  with  the  sad  news  to  his  mother,  who 
prepared  and  sent  back  by  him  a  prescription  which 
in  due  time  effected  a  cure.  The  lame  hand,  or 
rather  the  well  hand,  then  returned  gladly  where  the 
heart  had  gone  before.  The  impatient  lover  was, 
indeed,  at  this  time,  in  no  condition  to  support  in  idle 
ness  a  helpless  wife ;  for,  though  he  owned  a  half- 
finished  house,  and  some  land,  he  was  five  hundred 
dollars  in  debt  for  his  education,  and  had  as  yet  little 
business  on  which  he  could  rely.  Neither  of  them, 
however,  felt  much  anxiety,  provided  only  that  their 
health  was  good,  and  they  had  strength  to  labor.  They 
were  accordingly  married  without  further  delay,  Feb 
ruary  12th,  1788,  and,  as  soon  as  the  necessary  arrange 
ments  could  be  made,  commenced  house-keeping, 
April  1st,  on  the  spot  and  in  the  mansion  where  they 
ever  after  resided. 

In  carrying  home  his  bride,  he  obtained  the  use 
of  the  only  chaise  then  owned  in  Epping.  This 
belonged  to  his  cousin,  Enoch  Coffin,  who,  being  orig- 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEE.  89 

inally  a  Newbury  man,  had  been  the  first  to  introduce 
into  the  town  what  was  then  a  rare  luxury,  and,  as 
his  ruder  neighbors  thought,  an  item  of  unnecessary 
expense  and  unjustifiable  extravagance.  Riding  on 
horseback  was  then  almost  the  only  mode  of  travel 
ling.  Horses  were  trained  to  pace,  or  rack,  which 
was  much  easier  to  the  rider  than  trotting.  In 
this  way  the  longest  journeys  were  performed — 
often  over  roads  which  hardly  admitted  of  any 
other  mode  of  conveyance.  When  the  distance 
was  short,  as  to  the  meeting  house,  or  to  a 
neighboring  towrn,  the  same  horse  often  carried  the 
good  man  and  the  wife,  with  a  child  in  her  arms,  on 
the  pillion  behind.  I  was  carried  once  in  this  way, 
from  Epping  to  New  Market,  and  back  the  same  day. 
Our  more  ordinary  mode  of  conveyance  was  for  the 
father  and  child  to  be  mounted  on  one  horse,  and  the 
mother  on  a  second.  This  was  for  some  years  our 
only  resource.  When  pressed  by  business,  and  impor 
tuned  by  the  children  for  a  ride,  my  father  would 
sometimes  say  to  us,  "Wait  a  while,  till  I  get  more 
money,  and  we  will  then  have  a  coach  of  our  own, 
and  leisure  to  ride  as  often  as  we  please."  The  coach, 
however,  never  came,  and  not  so  much  of  the  leisure 
as  we  could  have  desired ;  but  the  enjoyment  was 
none  the  less  real  when  we  rode  out  together,  the 
children,  one  in  the  lap,  and  two  in  front,  in  the  old- 


90  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

fashioned,  square-topped  chaise,  which  he  found 
himself  able,  in  due  time,  to  own.  This,  however, 
was  at  a  later  period.  In  the  meanwhile,  prudence, 
industry,  and  temperance  brought  with  them  their 
usual  rewards  of  health  and  enjoyment,  followed 
first  by  competence,  and  finally,  by  what,  in  a 
country  town  like  this,  at  least,  was  accounted 
wealth.  The  sibyl's  prophecy  of  the  six  children  was 
also  beginning  to  be  fulfilled,  first,  in  the  birth  of 
a  son,  the  author  of  this  Memoir,  February  9th,  1789, 
then  of  a  daughter,  followed  by  that  of  four  sons — 
one  of  whom  died  in  infancy,  another  just  before  his 
parents,  while  the  others  still  survive. 

Fortunate,  indeed,  was  he  in  the  partner  of  his 
life.  A  piety  sincere,  but  without  ostentation  or 
display;  an  affectionate  regard,  and  even  reverence 
for  her  husband ;  the  most  unwearied  care  of  her 
children ;  a  steady  supervision  and  control  of  her 
household  affairs;  prudence,  economy,  good  sense,  and 
sweetness  of  temper,  were  among  the  virtues  of  her 
daily  life.  Though  not  young  when  married,  they  lived 
together  for  sixty-three  years,  not  only  without  the 
slightest  jar  or  discord,  but  with  a  tenderness  always 
warm,  and  increasing  to  the  close  of  life, — a  rare 
example  of  maternal  fondness  and  fatherly  care, 
which  their  children  alone  could  fully  appreciate, 
though  known  to,  and  remarked  by  the  wide  circle  of 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  91 

their  friends  and  acquaintance.  The  wife  differed 
indeed  from  her  husband,  in  having  little  taste  for 
literature,  yet  her  knowledge,  derived  principally 
from  conversation,  was  extensive,  and,  for  all  practi 
cal  purposes,  fully  adequate  to  her  needs. 


CHAPTER     IV. 

THE    LEGISLATOR. 

THE  year  1787  is  memorable  as  that  in  which  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States  was  formed.  Highly 
as  that  instrument  is  now  prized,  it  was  not  received 
with  much  favor  by  the  people  on  its  first  promulga 
tion.  It  met,  in  all  the  states,  with  many  opponents ; 
and  in  several  it  was  adopted  only  after  repeated 
trials,  and  by  small  majorities.  In  more  than  half 
the  states,  its  ratification  was  accompanied  by  pro 
posed  amendments,  some  of  them  of  a  character 
materially  affecting  its  essential  provisions.  Without 
these  proposals  of  amendment  it  would  probably  have 
been  rejected  by  a  majority  of  the  states.  A  gov 
ernment,  in  the  proper  sense  of  that  word,  was  by  this 
constitution,  for  the  first  time,  proposed  for  the  Union. 
It  is  not  strange,  therefore,  that  there  should  have 
been  differences  of  opinion,  not  only  as  to  its  necessity, 
but,  that  admitted,  as  to  the  nature  and  extent  of  the 
powers  to  be  delegated.  The  votes  of  the  revolu 
tionary  congress  had  no  legislative  authority.  They 
were  recommendations,  to  which  a  sense  of  common 
danger  alone  gave  the  force  of  laws.  Even  the  arti- 


LIFE     OP     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  93 

cles  of  confederation,  which  did  not  go  into  operation 
till  1781,  merely  formed  a  league  or  alliance  between 
independent  states.  What  was  now  proposed  was,  not 
a  compact  between  sovereign  communities,  bound  only 
by  treaty  stipulations,  but  a  frame  of  government  for 
the  people  of  the  United  States ;  acting  not  on  state 
legislatures,  but  on  individuals  \  a  government  limit 
ed  in  its  powers,  but  supreme  within  its  own  sphere 
of  action,  and  dependent  on  its  own  agents  alone  for 
the  execution  of  its  purposes.  Whether  such  a  gov 
ernment  should  be  adopted  was  the  question  now 
presented  to  the  people  for  their  decision.  By  some 
it  was  contended  that  the  separate  states  could,  in 
ordinary  times,  best  govern  themselves  ;  that  their 
interests  wrere  in  many  respects  different,  and  in  some 
adverse;  and  that  a  general  government  must  favor 
some  at  the  expense  of  others,  and  might  end  in 
oppressing  all.  In  time  of  peace,  said  they,  let  each 
state  govern,  as  best  it  can,  its  own  citizens  ;  entering 
into  such  compacts  with  its  neighbors  as  their  mutual 
interests  may  require.  These  leagues  will  form,  by 
degrees,  clusters  of  contiguous  states,  one  at  the 
north,  another  in  the  centre,  a  third  at  the  south,  and 
in  due  time,  others  in  the  west.  A  war  with  any 
great  European  power,  if  such  an  event  should  occur, 
would  lead,  as  in  the  revolution,  to  the  union  of 
the  whole ;  the  union  lasting  while  the  danger  from 
abroad  pressed  upon  them,  and  leaving  them,  at  its 


94  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

close,  separate  and  independent.  Others,  who  did  not 
go  this  length,  thought  that  little  was  wanted  by  the 
congress  of  the  confederacy  beyond  what  it  already 
possessed,  except  the  power  to  regulate  commerce 
with  foreign  nations,  and  to  decide,  in  the  way  of 
arbitration,  questions  of  boundary,  and  other  disputes 
which  might  arise  between  the  states.  These  latter, 
no  less  than  the  former,  were  opposed  to  the  estab 
lishment  of  any  general  government.  Even  among 
those  who  admitted  the  necessity  of  such  a  govern 
ment,  many  thought  that  its  powers  should  be  much 
more  limited  than  those  contained  in  the  new  constitu 
tion,  which  in  their  view  had,  in  the  language  of  Pat 
rick  Henry,  "an  awful  squinting  towards  monarchy." 
They  looked  with  apprehension  on  its  most  impor 
tant  provisions,  and  saw  danger  to  the  liberties  of  the 
people  in  its  vast,  undefined,  and,  in  many  respects, 
undefinable  powers.  They  held  that  the  proposed 
constitution  should  be  rejected,  and  another  formed 
with  powers  more  limited  and  better  defined. 

On  the  other  hand,  so  various  were  the  shades  of 
opinion,  and  so  differently  did  men,  equally  intelligent, 
think  on  the  same  subject,  that  there  were  not  want 
ing  those  who  held  that  the  great  defect  of  the  new 
constitution  was  its  want,  rather  than  its  excess,  of 
power  for  the  purposes  of  its  institution.  The  danger 
which  they  feared  was,  not  tyranny  in  the  head,  but 
anarchy  in  the  limbs ;  and  they  predicted  that,  in  any 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  95 

serious  contest  between  the  general  government  and 
the  states,  the  latter  would  be  found  the  stronger  of 
the  two.  Washington,  Hamilton,  Jay,  and  probably 
Madison,  were  of  this  opinion.  They,  however,  gave 
to  the  constitution  their  cordial  support,  as  the  best  that 
could  then  be  obtained,  and  as  likely,  if  adopted,  to 
lead,  in  time,  to  something  better.  Hamilton  had  pro 
posed  in  the  convention,  as  expressing  his  idea  of  what 
was  desirable,  an  executive,  judiciary  and  senate,  to 
hold  their  offices  during  good  behavior,  and  a  house 
of  assembly  to  be  chosen  for  three  years.  Madison's 
first  plan  for  preserving  the  subordination  of  the  states 
to  the  general  government  was  either  to  give  congress 
a  veto  on  the  state  laws,  or  to  vest  the  appointment 
of  the  governors  of  all  the  states  in  the  President  and 
Senate.  "Real  liberty,"  said  Hamilton,  "is  neither 
found  in  despotism,  nor  in  the  extremes  of  democracy, 
but  in  moderate  governments.  Those  who  mean  to 
form  a  solid  republican  government  ought  to  proceed 
to  the  confines  of  another  government,"  that  is,  mon 
archy. 

We  have,  in  these  facts,  a  clew  to  the  origin  of  the 
two  great  parties  which  have  since  divided  the  coun 
try  ;  and  which  were  not  long  in  drawing  into  their 
vortex  the  various  local  parties  and  associations,  that 
had  before  disturbed  the  states,  without  being  broad 
enough  to  embroil  the  continent  in  their  action.  The 
friends  of  the  new  form  of  government  took  the  name 


96  TIPE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEE. 

of  Federalists,  or  supporters  of  the  Federal  consti 
tution;  their  antagonists  that  of  anti-Federalists,  or 
opposers  of  the  constitution.  After  its  ratification, 
the  friends  of  the  first  two  administrations  retained 
the  name  of  Federalists,  while  their  opponents  took 
that  of  Ilepublicans.  To  these  first  party  names 
have  succeeded  those  of  Whigs  and  Democrats.  It 
would,  however,  be  a  mistake  to  suppose,  that  either 
party  has  been,  at  all  times,  true  to  its  avowed  prin 
ciples.  The  Republicans  in  office  were  often  liberal, 
and  the  Federalists  out  of  office  strict,  in  their  con 
struction  of  the  constitution ;  and  claimed  or  denied 
authority,  in  many  cases,  very  much  as  the  one  party 
was  to  gain  or  the  other  lose  by  its  exertion.  In 
general,  however,  the  Federalists  were  in  favor  of  a 
liberal  construction  and  exercise  of  the  powers  of  the 
general  government ;  and  the  Republicans,  in  theory 
always,  and  to  a  considerable  extent  in  practice,  were 
for  narrowing  down  those  powers  to  their  least  possible 
extent.  The  former  deemed  a  strong  central  author 
ity  necessary  to  the  welfare  of  the  whole  ;  the  latter, 
dreading  such  authority  in  the  general  government, 
leaned  strongly  to  state  rights  and  state  power,  as 
paramount  to  all  others.  Men  equally  honest  and  in 
telligent  have  belonged  to  both  these  parties.  Even 
the  same  individual  might,  as  in  fact  many  did,  act 
with  little  or  no  inconsistency,  at  different  times,  with 
either  party,  as  he  thought  the  one  or  the  other 


LIFE    OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER.  97 

pushing  its  doctrines,  in  any  given  case,  into  an 
extreme  injurious  to  the  public  interests.  Other 
marked  differences  have,  at  all  times,  existed  between 
the  two  parties ;  but  this  showed  itself  from  the  first, 
and  may  be  regarded  as  fundamental.  In  a  case  of 
delegated  power,  the  first  question  always  is,  Does  it 
exist  ?  and  the  second,  Shall  it  be  exercised  in  this 
case  ?  Such  is  the  united  influence  of  interest  and 
feeling  over  the  mind,  that  the  decision  of  the  second 
question  very  generally  carries  the  first  with  it. 
Those  who  think  the  power  beneficial,  have  little 
difficulty  in  finding  it  in  the  constitution;  while 
those  who,  for  any  cause,  do  not  wish  to  use  it,  read 
ily  persuade  themselves  that  it  is  not  there.  Public 
opinion  overrides  constitutional  barriers ;  and  finds, 
perhaps,  its  only  effectual  control,  in  an  adverse 
public  opinion,  equally  fixed  and  unyielding.  "Paper 
and  parchment  bind  not  hearts  and  hands." 

The  question,  however,  was  not,  on  this  occasion, 
as  to  the  value  of  constitutions  in  general,  but  as  to 
the  policy  of  adopting  the  one  now  proposed.  On 
this  point  my  father  had  no  doubts.  He  was  a  Fed 
eralist,  in  the  sense  of  being  in  favor  of  the  new 
constitution,  and  he  used  his  utmost  exertions  to 
secure  its  adoption  in  New  Hampshire.  He  was  a 
candidate  for  a  seat  in  the  convention,  but  was  not 
elected,  the  town  of  Epping  being  decidedly  anti- 
Federal.  In  a  letter  to  Daniel  Tilton  (Dec.  10th, 

7 


98  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

1787,)  he  says:  "The  constitution  is  opposed  here 
by  many,  because  they  think  it  a  grant  of  too  much 
power.  My  fears  are  all  the  other  way.  In  my 
opinion,  the  executive  is  not  strong  enough;  and  the 
powers  delegated  to  the  Congress,  though  in  some 
respects  ample,  are  in  others  too  much  restricted." 

The  convention,  which  met  at  Exeter  (Feb.  13th, 
1788,)  to  consider  the  new  constitution,  adjourned, 
after  a  session  of  ten  days,  in  which  it  was  ascer 
tained  that  a  majority  of  the  members  would  vote 
against  it,  if  the  question  was  then  pushed  to  a  deci 
sion.  They  met  again  at  Concord,  and  agreed  to 
ratify  it,  (June  21st,  1788,)  by  a  vote  of  fifty-seven 
yeas  to  forty-seven  nays ;  but  not  without  proposing 
several  amendments.  The  ratification  of  nine  States 
was  required  to  put  the  new  government  into  opera 
tion,  and  the  accession  of  New  Hampshire  completed 
that  number.  The  amendments  proposed  had  for 
their  general  object  to  restrict  within  narrower  limits 
the  powers  of  the  federal  government,  and  to  define 
more  precisely  the  rights  of  the  people.  The  debates 
in  this  convention  were  never  reported.  A  speech 
of  Joshua  Atherton  against  the  clause  of  the  consti 
tution  which  allowed  the  importation  of  slaves  prior 
to  1808  has  been  published ;  and  tradition  has  also 
preserved  a  remark  made  by  him  on  the  slave  rep 
resentation.  "  If  property,"  he  said,  "  is  to  be  repre 
sented  in  Congress,  and  in  the  electoral  colleges,  our 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER.  99 

neat  stock  is  as  well  entitled  to  be  counted  as  the 
Hack  cattle  of  the  South.  By  this  slave  representation 
you  put  the  yoke,  on  your  own  necks,  and  make  the 
slaveholders  masters,  at  the  North  as  well  as  at  the 
South."  This  subject  did  not  then  attract  much  of 
the  popular  attention ;  but  sagacious  men,  whose 
minds  were  sharpened  to  fault-finding  by  dislike  of 
other  parts  of  the  constitution,  saw  in  it,  even  then, 
the  germs  of  evil,  which  have  since  been  largely 
developed. 

My  father's  federalism  did  not  prevent  the  people 

of  Epping  from  sending  him  (March,  1788,)  to  the 

Legislature.      In   going  to    Concord   to   attend  the 

November  session,  (for  there  were  three  during  the 

year,)  he  met  with  an  adventure,  which  could  hardly 

occur  in  the  present  state  of  the  country.     It  was 

after  the  adjournment  of  the  court  at  Exeter,  in  the 

afternoon,  that  he  left  that  place  to  take  his  seat,  the 

next  morning,  in  the  House  at  Concord,    lie  reached 

home  about  dark,  filled  out  several  writs  on  demands 

which  had  been  left  in  the  office  during  his  absence, 

and,  mounting  his  horse,  pursued  his  journey  towards 

Concord.     At  Deerfield,  his  friend  Mills  urged  him  to 

stay  with  him  till  the  next  morning ;  but,  though 

faint  from  recent  illness,  and  fatigued  with  his  labors 

in  court,  he  left  Deerfield  between  eleven  and  twelve, 

and  was  soon  lost  in  the  Allenstown  woods.     He  now 

heard  the  howling  of  wolves,  and   perceived  that 


100  LIFE    OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

he  was  followed  by  them.  It  was  dark,  his  horse 
became  frightened,  and  he  was  obliged  to  stop.  The 
wolves  howled,  whined,  and  rushed  forward  close 
upon  him,  without  daring,  however,  actually  to  attack 
the  horse.  After  a  while  he  succeeded  in  urging  his 
horse  on,  still  followed  by  these  unwelcome  attend 
ants.  It  was  not  till  the  moon  came  out,  as  he 
emerged  from  the  woods,  that  they  ceased  the  pur 
suit  ;  and  he  heard,  for  some  time,  their  long  howl 
dying  by  degrees  on  his  ear,  as  he  traversed  the  open 
plain.  It  was  daylight  when  he  reached  Pembroke, 
where,  as  he  rode  up  to  the  tavern,  he  met  President 
Langdon,  just  coming  from  his  chamber.  Langdon 
was  surprised  to  find  him  mounted  so  early  in  the 
morning,  and  more  so  on  learning  the  adventures  of 
the  night.  They  rode  together  to  Concord,  and  he 
was  in  his  seat  when  the  speaker  called  the  house  to 
order.  It  was  by  this  disregard  of  personal  conven 
ience  in  the  discharge  of  duty,  this  promptness  and 
celerity  of  movement,  that  he  often  delighted  his 
friends,  and  surprised  his  opponents,  by  the  seeming 
ubiquity  of  his  presence ;  the  night  being  spent  in 
solitary  and,  sometimes,  dangerous  rides,  because 
every  hour  of  the  day  was  pre-occupied  with  other 
engagements,  and  this,  too,  when  the  state  of  his 
health  was  such  as  would  have  been  deemed  by  most 
men  a  sufficient  excuse  for  inaction. 


LIFE    OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER.  101 

He  early  acquired  a  decided  influence  in  the  House. 
"  I  spoke  often,"  he  says,  "  but  never  long,  and  con 
fined  myself  strictly  to  the  business  in  hand ;  taking 
care  to  avoid  all  personal  reflections,  except  on  one 
occasion,  when  the  nature  of  the  case  seemed  to 
require  a  different  course."  His  conduct  on  the 
occasion  alluded  to  was  too  characteristic  to  be  here 
omitted.  It  was  in  the  choice  of  senators  to  the  first 
Congress  under  the  new  constitution.  That  instru 
ment,  in  directing  that  senators  shall  be  chosen  by 
the  State  Legislatures,  does  not  designate  the  mode 
in  which  the  choice  shall  be  made.  By  some  it  was 
contended  that  the  Senate  and  House,  meeting  in 
convention,  should  there,  by  joint  ballot,  make  the 
election.  By  others  it  was  held  that  the  election 
should  be  by  the  separate,  but  concurrent  action  of 
the  two  houses.  This  was  my  father's  opinion ;  and, 
as  the  Senate  refused  to  go  into  convention,  it  was 
also  the  mode  finally  adopted  by  the  House.  On 
proceeding  to  a  ballot  in  the  House,  (Nov.  llth, 
1788,)  it  appeared  that  John  Langdon  had  received 
all  but  three  of  the  votes.  My  father  then  offered  a 
resolution,  which,  after  reciting  the  previous  ballot, 
provided  "  that  John  Langdon  be,  and  he  hereby  is, 
appointed  a  senator,  on  the  part  of  this  State,  to  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,"  and  called  for  the 
yeas  and  nays  on  the  question  of  its  adoption. 
Nathaniel  Peabody,  who  was  himself  a  candidate  for 


102  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

the  Senate,  and  had  friends  who  did  not  wish  to  have 
it  known  how  they  voted,  objected  to  the  resolution 
as  inconsistent  with  the  principle  of  the  choice  by 
ballot,  or  secret  vote.  My  father  replied  with  some 
warmth  that  he  could  not  believe  that  any  man,  wor 
thy  of  a  seat  on  that  floor,  wished  to  conceal,  either 
from  the  public  or  from  his  constituents,  his  vote  on 
a  question  of  so  great  importance ;  but  that,  however 
this  might  be,  he  could  not  forego  his  right  to  have 
the  yeas  and  nays  entered  on  the  journal  in  this  case. 
As  there  was,  in  fact,  no  one  who  wished  to  conceal 
his  vote  in  the  case  of  Langdon,  the  resolution  passed 
without  further  opposition,  and  was  on  the  same  day 
concurred  in  by  the  Senate.  The  next  day  the 
choice  of  the  second  Senator  came  on  in  the  House. 
The  candidates  were  Josiah  Bartlett  and  Nathaniel 
Peabody.  Peabody  was  a  man  of  talents,  an  active 
politician,  but  of  doubtful  integrity,  and  unscrupulous 
in  the  use  of  means  to  effect  his  objects.  He  had 
been  a  member  of  the  revolutionary  Congress,  a 
member  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  and  for  many 
years  an  influential  member  of  the  Legislature.  He 
was  an  anti-Federalist;  but,  as  national  politics  had 
hardly  yet  assumed  a  permanent  influence  in  the 
state,  he  received  the  support  of  many  Federalists  in 
the  House,  and  of  some  out  of  it  who  were  leaders  in 
the  party.  When,  on  taking  the  ballot,  it  appeared 
that  Peabody  had  a  majority  of  the  votes,  the  same 


LIFE    OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER.  103 

resolution  was  offered  as  in  the  case  of  Langdon,  and 
the  yeas  and  nays  called  for.  The  object  of  these 
calls  was  now  apparent.  It  was,  in  the  first  instance, 
to  establish  a  precedent ;  and,  in  the  second,  to  make 
it  bear  on  Peabody.  When  the  clerk  was  about  to 
call  the  roll,  my  father  rose  and  addressed  the  House, 
with  great  force  and  plainness,  on  the  relative  claims 
of  the  rival  candidates ;  and  denounced  Peabody, 
who  was  present,  as  morally,  politically  and  person 
ally  unfit  for  the  place,  and  unworthy  of  the  public 
confidence.  On  taking  the  question  by  yeas  and 
nays,  Peabody  was  found  to  have  a  majority  of  two 
votes,  a  support  much  short  of  what  he  had  received 
on  the  trial  by  ballot.  But  the  attack,  though  unsuc 
cessful  in  the  House,  was  not  made  in  vain.  The 
Senate  rejected  the  nomination,  and  sent  down  the 
name  of  Bartlett,  which  was  concurred  in  by  the 
House.  He  declined  the  appointment,  and  Paine 
Wingate  was  afterwards  chosen  in  his  place.  Pea- 
body  felt  mortified  and  provoked  at  the  result,  talked 
loudly  of  his  violated  honor,  and  threatened  to  chas 
tise  his  assailant.  A  prompt  intimation  that  more 
and  worse  would  be  said  if  he  moved  farther  in  the 
business,  put  an  end  at  once  to  his  threats,  though 
not  to  his  hostility. 

At  the  session  in  December,  held  at  Exeter,  my 
father  was  prevented  by  sickness  from  attending  in 
the  House,  till  the  second  week  of  the  session.  It 


104  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

appeared  that,  at  the  recent  election,  no  choice  of 
electors  of  president  and  vice-president  had  been 
made  by  the  people.  The  law  of  the  state  provided 
that  the  Legislature  should,  in  case  there  was  no 
election  by  the  people,  choose  the  five  electors 
required,  out  of  the  ten  persons  having  the  highest 
number  of  popular  votes ;  but  the  mode  of  doing  this 
was  not  prescribed.  Here,  then,  was  another  ques 
tion  of  procedure  to  be  settled ;  and  in  this,  as  in  the 
former  case,  he  was  in  favor  of  the  separate  action  of 
the  two  branches  of  the  Legislature.  The  House 
voting  to  meet  the  Senate  in  convention,  and  then 
to  make  the  choice,  the  latter  body  non-concurred 
this  vote,  and  a  committee  of  conference,  of  which 
he  was  one,  was  appointed.  They  reported  in  favor 
of  the  separate  action  of  the  two  Houses.  This  report 
was  accepted  by  the  Senate,  but  rejected  by  the 
House.  The  contest  continued  till  towards  midnight 
of  the  last  day  (Jan.  7, 1789,)  in  which  electors  could 
be  chosen.  As  the  Senate  was  at  length  about  to  yield, 
he  went  to  their  door,  and,  calling  out  Col.  Tappan, 
urged  them,  through  him,  not  to  recede  from  the 
ground  they  had  taken  till  he  had  made  one  effort 
more  to  change  the  vote  of  the  House.  This,  after  a 
stormy  debate,  was  effected;  though  under  a  protest, 
on  the  part  of  the  House,  that  their  present  action 
should  not  be  used  as  a  precedent  against  them  on 
any  future  occasion.  President  Sullivan,  who  had 


LIFE    OF    WILLIAM    PLUMEK.  105 

violently  opposed  the  claim  of  the  Senate,  now  rose 
and  said  that,  as  the  member  from  Epping  seemed  to 
know  the  way  to  the  Senate-chamber,  he  moved  that 
he  be  a  committee  to  inform  that  honorable  body  that 
their  perseverance,  aided  by  their  allies  in  the  House, 
had  won  for  them  the  victory.  This  was  said  in 
tones  of  mock  solemnity,  and  with  a  very  respectful 
bow  to  the  individual  thus  designated.  He  rose  at 
once,  on  being  so  selected,  thanked  the  House  for 
the  honor  of  the  appointment,  and,  followed  by  half 
the  members,  went  with  his  message  to  the  Senate. 
It  was  delivered  and  received  with  all  due  gravity ; 
and  this  timely  pleasantry  cleared  the  brows  of  many 
angry  politicians,  and  closed,  in  good  feeling,  an 
exciting  and  angry  controversy. 

The  prominent  part  which  the  young  Epping 
member  took  in  these  transactions,  the  most  impor 
tant  of  the  session,  gave  him  a  standing  in  the  House 
which  he  never  afterwards  lost.  He  was  about  the 
same  time  (Jan.  9,  1789,)  appointed  a  justice  of  the 
peace,  which  was  his  first  executive  commission.  He 
lived  to  be  the  oldest  justice  in  the  State. 

But  politics,  though  always  interesting  to  him, 
were  not,  at  this  time,  his  chief  occupation.  His 
business,  as  a  lawyer,  took  precedence  in  his  mind, 
alike  of  the  calls  of  ambition,  and  the  allurements 
of  pleasure.  To  neither  of  these  would  he  listen  to 
the  neglect  of  his  professional  pursuits.  Omitting, 


106  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

however,  for  the  present,  any  account  of  his  labors  as 
a  lawyer,  I  propose,  in  the  remainder  of  this  chapter, 
to  follow  him  in  his  public  employments  to  the  period 
of  his  election  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  in 
1802.  In  1789,  Epping  sent  no  member  to  the 
Legislature;  but,  in  March,  1790,  he  was  unanimously 
elected  to  the  House.  He  had  been  proposed  by 
many  of  his  friends  for  a  seat  in  the  Senate;  but  he 
preferred  the  House  as  a  better  field  for  the  exertion 
of  his  talents.  The  old  clerk,  Judge  Calfe,  being 
absent  on  account  of  sickness,  he  consented  to  serve 
as  clerk  till  Calfe  was  able  to  take  the  place,  and  then 
resigned  in  his  favor.  At  the  commencement  of  the 
session  he  objected  to  John  S.  Sherburne's  taking  his 
seat  as  a  member,  on  the  ground  that  he  was  a  pen 
sioner  of  the  United  States,  and  held  the  office  of 
District  Attorney  under  the  general  government. 
u  Sherburne,  who  was,"  he  says,  "  present  when  the 
question  was  discussed,  shed  many  tears,  and  even 
cried  aloud  like  a  child.  Unmanly  as  this  conduct 
was,  it  had  a  powerful  effect  on  many  members;  and 
he  was  allowed,  almost  unanimously,  to  hold  his  seat. 
The  part  I  acted  on  this  occasion,  instigated  by  no 
unfriendly  feeling,  made  him,  for  many  years  after, 
my  personal  bitter  enemy."  Sherburne  had  been, 
like  himself,  first,  a  preacher,  and  then  a  lawyer.  He 
was  for  a  short  time  in  the  army,  where  he  lost  a  limb, 
and  thence  derived  the  soubriquet  of  corlc-leg.  He  was 


LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER.  107 

a  man  of  talents,  gentlemanly  in  his  manners,  and 
insinuating  in  his  address.  He  was  afterwards  elected 
to  Congress,  and  held  for  many  years  the  office  of 
District  Judge.  The  state  constitution,  established 
three  years  later,  settled  the  question  thus  raised,  by 
excluding  from  both  houses  all  persons  "holding  any 
office  under  the  United  States." 

It  was  the  practice  at  that  time  for  members  of  the 
Legislature,  who  were  lawyers,  to  appear  as  counsel, 
and  argue  cases  before  committees,  and  before  the 
House  in  which,  as  members,  they  were  themselves 
bound  to  act  and  decide.  Besides  the  undue  advan 
tage  which  this  gave  their  clients,  the  practice  was 
fatal  to  their  own  impartiality  of  judgment  and  inde 
pendence  of  action.  My  father  refused  to  put  himself 
in  the  position  of  an  advocate,  where  he  was  bound 
to  be  a  judge,  and  endeavored  to  procure  the  passage 
of  an  order  prohibiting  the  practice.  He  failed,  how 
ever,  in  this ;  but,  following  up  the  effort,  in  the 
convention  of  1791,  he  obtained  the  insertion  of  a 
clause  in  the  constitution,  providing  that  "No  mem 
ber  of  the  general  court  shall  take  fees,  be  of  counsel 
or  act  as  an  advocate  before  either  branch  of  the 
Legislature."  Both  these  prohibitions,  inserted  on 
his  motion,  were  adopted  by  the  people,  and  now 
form  a  part  of  the  constitution  of  the  state. 

The  subject,  which,  during  this  and  the  next  year, 
occupied  largely  the  attention  of  the  Legislature,  was 


108  LIFE    OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

the  impeachment  of  Woodbury  Langdon,  for  neglect 
of  duty,  as  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Superior  Court. 
My  father  was  opposed  to  this  impeachment,  which 
he  thought  proceeded  from  private  pique  and  per 
sonal  interest,  rather  than  from  a  regard  to  the 
public  good ;  and  he  refused,  on  that  account,  to  act 
as  one  of  the  managers  on  the  part  of  the  House. 
After  much  ineffectual  action,  and  many  delays,  the 
impeachment  was  finally  dropped;  the  judge  having, 
in  the  mean  time,  accepted  an  office  under  the  United 
States,  and  resigned  his  seat  on  the  bench.  The 
House  passed  a  vote  of  censure  on  him,  denying  his 
right  to  resign  while  under  impeachment,  in  which, 
however,  the  Senate  refused  to  concur. 

"  During  these  debates,"  says  my  father,  "  I  was  assailed 
by  two  or  three  of  the  members,  with  a  degree  of  rudeness, 
discreditable  to  a  deliberative  assembly.  I  replied  calmly  to 
their  arguments,  but  took  no  notice  of  their  abuse.  It  has 
ever  been  my  object  in  debate  not  to  let  the  angry  passions 
rise,  and  never  to  make  even  the  slightest  allusion  to  anything 
personal  in  the  remarks  of  others.  Besides  the  higher  advan 
tages  of  such  a  course,  I  have  found  this,  by  long  experience, 
the  most  effectual  mode  at  once  of  mortifying  an  opponent, 
and  of  keeping  with  me  the  favor  of  the  audience.  If  the 
attack  is,  in  any  case,  well-founded,  I  suffer  less  by  submitting 
in  silence  to  the  rebuke,  tban  by  showing  anger,  in  addition 
to  being  in  the  wrong.  If  unjustly  abused,  the  hearers  have 
seldom  failed  to  show  by  their  looks  and  their  actions  that  the 
assailant  had  hurt  himself  more  than  he  had  injured  me." 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  109 

This  coolness  and  self-possession  it  was  not  always 
easy  for  him  to  preserve ;  yet,  by  careful  discipline, 
early  commenced  and  long  continued,  he  had  acquired 
such  mastery  over  his  passions,  that  he  seldom  suf 
fered  from  their  violence.  When  he  found  himself 
angry,  he  kept  his  seat  and  refused  to  speak,  while  the 
excitement  continued.  When  at  length  he  did  rise, 
whatever  of  warmth  manifested  itself  went  into  the 
argument,  and  not  into  personalities.  No  bitterness 
of  retort  showed  that  he  felt  the  venom  of  the  attack, 
or  diverted  him  from  the  point  at  issue  to  any  merely 
personal  altercation.  The  arguments  of  an  opponent 
were  often  assailed  with  unsparing  severity,  while 
his  character  and  motives  were  treated  with  uniform 
respect.  He  thus  united  great  plainness  of  speech 
with  a  courteous  address  and  a  rigid  abstinence  from 
personal  invective.  Though  sometimes,  in  the  heat 
of  debate,  assailed  with  rudeness,  he  was  generally 
treated  with  much  respect,  even  by  those  who  dif 
fered  most  widely  from  him.  The  motto  on  his  signet 
ring,  adopted  about  this  time,  was  "  Respect  thyself," 
a  precept,  which,  as  he  seldom  failed  to  observe  it, 
few  were  disposed  to  disregard  in  their  intercourse 
with  him.  This  self-respect  savored  nothing  of  vanity; 
but  was  rather  "  that  pious  and  just  honoring  of  our 
selves,"  which  Milton  describes  as  "the  radical  mois 
ture  and  fountain  head  from  which  every  laudable 
and  worthy  enterprise  issues  forth." 


110  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

"  Ofttimes  nothing  profits  more 
Than  self-esteem,  grounded  on  just  and  right, 
Well  managed." 

Of  other  measures  of  the  session,  in  which  he  took 
a  part,  I  may  mention  here  the  grant  of  fifty  pounds 
to  Dr.  Belknap  towards  the  expenses  of  his  History 
of  New  Hampshire.  He  was  in  favor  of  a  larger 
sum,  but  thought  himself  happy  in  being  able  to  get 
even  this  small  appropriation  through  the  House, 
which  prided  itself  very  little  on  its  patronage  of 
literature.  He  was  successful  in  defeating,  after  a 
severe  struggle  and  by  a  single  vote,  the  attempt  to  lay 
a  state  tax  which  had  been  warmly  recommended  by 
the  treasurer,  but  which  he  considered  unnecessary  at 
that  time.  It  was  suspected  that  the  treasurer  used 
the  funds  of  the  state  for  his  own  emolument,  when 
not  needed  by  the  public.  This  charge  seemed  half 
admitted,  in  the  ground  assumed  by  his  friends,  that 
the  public  had  no  concern  in  the  matter,  except  to 
see  that  his  bondsmen  were  good.  This  business  of 
the  state  tax  was  the  first  of  several  occurrences, 
which,  happening  from  time  to  time,  gradually  alien 
ated  my  father  from  the  leading  Exeter  politicians, 
while  agreeing  with  them  in  general  politics,  and 
made  him  ultimately  a  centre  of  anti-Exeter  influ 
ence.  That  town  was  in  effect,  for  many  years,  the 
political  capital  of  the  state.  The  three  Gilmans — 
John  Taylor,  Nicholas,  and  Nathaniel — Oliver  Pea- 


LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER.  Ill 

body,  Samuel  Tenney,  Benjamin  Abbott,  George  Sul 
livan,  and,  at  a  later  period,  Jeremiah  Smith, — not  to 
mention  several  less  known,  but  able  men,  who  lived 
there,  especially  Benjamin  Conner,  wrho  was  a  great 
party  manager, — possessed  an  aggregate  of  talents  and 
information,  and  a  weight  of  character  and  influence, 
which  could  be  equalled  in  no  other  part  of  the  state. 
My  father,  though  on  friendly  terms  personally  with 
all  these  men,  was  not  one  of  their  political  circle. 
He  gave  great  offence  to  some  of  them  at  the  next 
session,  1791,  by  a  bill  which  he  introduced  to  tax 
state  notes,  in  which  they  were  largely  interested. 
"Your  influence,"  said  one  of  them  to  him,  "may 
carry  the  bill  through  an  ignorant  House,  as  you  can 
carry  anything  else  there,  but  it  will  be  rejected  by 
the  Senate."  "  We  shall  see/'  was  the  quiet  reply. 
The  bill  accordingly  passed  the  House,  and  was  sent 
to  the  Senate,  which,  a  few  days  after,  sent  a  mes 
sage  to  the  House,  informing  them  that  the  bill  had 
been  taken  from  their  files,  and  could  not  be  found. 
The  House  immediately  passed  it  a  second  time,  and 
sent  it  to  the  Senate,  by  whom  it  was  enacted  and 
became  a  law.  It  is  a  curious  illustration  of  the  kind 
of  men  sometimes  found  in  public  life,  that  a  mem 
ber  of  the  House  (not  from  Exeter)  afterwards 
boasted  that  he  had  pocketed  the  first  bill,  and  came 
near  getting  the  second.  It  will  readily  be  believed 
that  he  was  a  holder  of  state  notes. 


112  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

The  winter  session  of  1791  was  devoted  chiefly  to 
a  revision  of  the  statutes,  with  a  view  to  a  new  edi 
tion  of  the  laws.  Among  the  bills  introduced  was  one 
for  the  punishment  of  blasphemy.  The  committee 
had  reported,  in  substance,  the  old  law,  but  a  Mr.  Wei- 
man,  who  had  been  a  preacher,  moved  as  an  amend 
ment,  that  any  person  "  convicted  of  speaking  disre 
spectfully  of  any  part  of  the  Bible  should  have  his 
tongue  bored  through  with  a  hot  iron."  Sherbume 
seconded  this  motion  in  a  vehement  speech,  declaring 
that  he  should  have  been  better  pleased  if  the  rever 
end  gentleman  had  proposed  death  as  the  penalty  for 
so  atrocious  an  offence.  Sherburne  labored  under  the 
imputation  of  being  himself  an  unbeliever,  and  was, 
at  any  rate,  free  in  his  remarks  on  scripture,  and  his 
ridicule  of  the  clergy.  Whipping,  branding,  and 
other  mutilations  of  the  body  were  punishments  then 
inflicted  by  the  penal  codes  of  most  of  the  states,  and 
the  zeal  of  a  Christian  community  saw  nothing  revolt 
ing  in  their  application  to  the  support  of  religious 
truth. 

"  I  was  aware,"  says  my  father,  sf  of  the  strong  prejudices 
of  some  of  the  members  against  me,  on  account  of  my  re 
ligious  tenets  ;  and  I  doubted  whether  my  opposition  would 
not  aid,  rather  than  defeat,  the  proposed  amendment.  But 
perceiving,  from  the  temper  of  the  House,  and  the  conduct  of 
such  men  as  Sherburne,  that  there  was  danger  of  its  adoption, 
I  could  not  remain  silent.  I  rose,  therefore,  to  oppose  it ; 
and,  though  deeply  affected,  and,  at  first,  agitated  with  the 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  113 

strength  of  my  emotions,  I  delivered  one  of  the  best  speeches 
I  ever  made  on  any  subject.  I  endeavored  to  show  that  this 
amendment  was  not  only  barbarous,  impolitic,  and  unjust,  but 
contrary  to  the  spirit  of  Christianity.  Tor  this  purpose  I 
made  more  than  twenty  appropriate  quotations  from  the 
Bible  ;  contrasting  the  severity  of  the  Jewish  law,  which  was 
appealed  to  in  support  of  sanguinary  punishments,  with  the 
mildness  of  the  Christian  dispensation ;  and  closed  with  a 
strong  appeal  to  the  more  liberal  and  generous  feelings  of  the 
human  heart." 

The  motion  was  rejected,  though  not  by  a  large 
majority.  This  speech  was  spoken  of,  by  those  who 
heard  it,  as  having  been  highly  eloquent  and  impres 
sive.  It  vindicated,  on  the  broadest  principles,  the 
right  and  the  duty  of  free  inquiry,  and  denounced, 
with  keen  satire  and  indignant  invective,  the  attempt 
to  substitute  authority  in  the  place  of  reason,  the 
branding-iron  and  the  halter  for  the  persuasive  force 
of  argument  and  the  corrective  influence  of  example, 
—  combining,  in  one  odious  character,  the  hypocrite 
and  the  persecutor,  the  bigot  and  the  unbeliever. 
Sherburne  made  no  reply,  and  was  not  even  present 
when  the  final  vote  was  taken.  He  may  have  acted 
in  this  case,  either  in  bad  faith,  with  a  view  to  popu 
larity,  or,  as  might  be  more  charitably  surmised,  with 
the  covert  design  to  lead  the  House,  by  the  very 
extravagance  of  his  argument  in  support  of  the 
amendment,  to  its  rejection.  This  latter  supposition 

8 


114  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

is  consistent  with  his  usual  finesse  and  indiretion. 
But  his  own  account  of  the  matter,  afterwards,  was 
that  his  aim  had  been  to  force  Plumer,  whom  he 
disliked,  into  the  avowal  of  opinions  which  he  knew 
would  be  unpopular.  If  this  was  his  object,  he  was 
but  partially  successful.  He  brought  out,  indeed, 
his  intended  victim,  but  not  to  be  sacrificed.  Many, 
who  voted  for  the  amendment,  were  loud  in  their 
praises  of  the  boldness  and  ability  with  which  it  was 
opposed ;  especially  in  contrast  with  the  zeal  of  one 
who,  after  advocating  the  measure,  refused  to  vote 
for  it  * 

My  father  was,  the  next  year  (March,  1791),  again 
elected  to  the  House,  and  chosen  Speaker  of  that 
body,  "  by  a  full  vote."  The  session  in  June  was  a 
short  one.  That  in  November  was  held  at  Ports 
mouth.  Its  most  important  business  was  the  incor 
poration  of  a  bank.  There  was,  at  this  time,  no 
bank  in  New  Hampshire,  and  but  three  state  banks 
in  the  Union, — one  in  Philadelphia,  one  in  New 

*  It  was  of  this  same  Sherburne  that  Judge  Smith,  reversing  the  apostolic 
injunction,  said,  "I  hate  him  with  a  pure  heart,  fervently."  The  letters  of 
Smith  abound  in  sallies  of  this  kind,  amusing,  at  once,  and  sarcastic.  This 
quaint  humor  seldom  spared  even  his  friends,  and  was  not  likely  to  fall  with 
less  severity  on  those  whom  he  regarded  as  his  enemies.  "  You  will  make," 
he  says,  in  one  of  those  letters,  "  the  necessary  allowances  for  my  painting. 
I  lay  no  claim  to  impartiality.  I  have  not  learned  to  blame  measures  with 
out  censuring  men."  This  latter  expression  may  be  taken  as  the  apology 
for  some  harsh  judgments  and  uncharitable  expressions,  in  which  other  men, 
besides  Smith,  occasionally  indulge. 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  115 

York,  and  one  in  Boston.  My  father's  idea  was  that 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  then  recently  incor 
porated,  would  establish  branches  wherever  the  busi 
ness  of  the  country  might  require  them,  and  that  no 
more  state  banks  ought  to  be  created.  He  thought 
this  general  bank  should  be  owned  by  the  govern 
ment,  and  managed  as  a  public  concern,  which  might, 
in  this  way,  be  made  useful  to  the  business  of  the 
country,  valuable  as  a  fiscal  agent,  and  a  source, 
under  certain  circumstances,  of  income  to  the  treas 
ury.  With  these  views  he  opposed  the  incorporation 
of  the  New  Hampshire  Bank ;  which,  however,  passed 
both  Houses  by  small  majorities,  and  became  a  law. 

In  the  meantime,  a  convention  having  been  called 
to  revise  the  constitution  of  the  state,  he  was  elected, 
in  August,  a  member  of  that  body.  The  importance 
of  the  object  drew  together  many  of  the  ablest  men 
of  the  state.  The  discussion,  not  of  laws  merely,  but 
of  constitutional  provisions,  and  the  fundamental 
principles  of  government,  gave  to  the  debates  an  in 
terest  not  often  felt  in  legislative  proceedings.  These 
debates,  though  long  and  able,  were  never  published ; 
and  the  journal  of  the  convention  furnishes  but  an 
imperfect  account  of  what  was  done,  and  still  less  by 
whom  it  was  done.  Even  the  yeas  and  nays,  except 
in  two  or  three  cases,  are  not  given.  I  am  able, 
however,  partly  from  the  journal  and  other  docu 
ments  connected  with  it,  and  partly  from  my  father's 


116  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

papers,  to  give  some  account  of  the  proceedings  of 
this  convention,  and  especially  of  his  course  in  it. 
The  convention  met  at  Concord,  September  7th, 
1791.  The  old  constitution  was  taken  up  by  sec 
tions,  and  its  provisions  altered,  or  amended,  and 
new  clauses  added,  or  old  ones  stricken  out,  at  the 
will  of  the  convention,  till  the  whole  was  passed 
through  in  this  manner.  This  occupied  the  first  ten 
days  of  the  session.  Among  the  subjects  in  which 
he  felt  the  strongest  interest,  and  took  an  active  part 
in  debate,  were  the  provisions  on  the  subject  of  reli 
gion,  the  organization  of  the  executive  department, 
the  judiciary,  and  the  basis  of  representation  in  the 
House. 

On  the  subject  of  religion,  he  proposed,  instead  of 
the  former  provisions,  an  article  securing  to  every 
person  in  the  state  "  the  inestimable  privilege  of  wor 
shipping  God  in  a  manner  agreeable  to  the  dictates  of 
his  own  conscience,"  and  prohibiting  the  Legislature 
from  compelling  any  person  either  to  attend  any 
place  of  public  worship,  or  to  pay  taxes  for  the 
building  of  churches,  or  for  the  support  of  religious 
teachers,  except  in  pursuance  of  his  own  free  act  and 
agreement.  This  amendment  was  wide  enough  to 
embrace  the  Roman  Catholic  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  Deist  on  the  other.  As  a  substitute  for  this  arti 
cle  another  was  proposed,  subjecting  all  the  inhabi 
tants  of  the  state  to  a  town  tax  for  the  support  of  the 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK.  117 

clergyman  whom  the  majority  of  the  legal  voters 
should,  in  each  case,  select  as  their  pastor.     The  two 
opposite  systems,  the  voluntary  and  the  compulsory, 
were  thus  brought  before  the  convention,  and  led  to 
an  animated  debate  on  the  subject.     But  neither 
party  was  strong  enough  to  carry  its  proposed  amend 
ment;  and  the  constitution  of  1784  remains,  in  this 
particular,  unaltered  to  the  present  time.     The  old 
system,  in  its  rigor  of  universal  compulsory  taxa 
tion,  though  it  had  still  its  advocates,  had  lost  much 
of  its  hold  on  the  public  favor ;  while  the  voluntary 
system  had   not  yet  acquired   the  support  of  any 
considerable    portion    of   the   religious   community. 
The  Quakers,  few  in  numbers,  were  allowed  to  escape 
the  tax  for  the  support  of  religious  teachers;  the 
Baptists  claimed  the  same  exemption;  the  Metho 
dists  were,  as  yet,  little  known  in  the  state ; — but 
there   were   many   persons  who,   belonging    to    no 
known   denomination,  could,   in   general,   plead   no 
scruples   of   conscience    on    the    subject,   yet    were 
unwilling  to  be  driven,  by  compulsion  of  law,  into 
any  religious  fold.      They  wanted  the  appearance  of 
going  freely,  if  they  went  at  all. 

A  motion,  made  by  my  father,  to  abolish  the 
religious  test  for  office-holders,  who  were  required  by 
the  Constitution  to  be  "  of  the  Protestant  religion," 
though  at  first  rejected,  was  finally  adopted  by  the 
Convention.  It  failed,  however,  with  the  people ; 


118  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

receiving  a  majority  of  the  votes  in  its  favor,  but 
not  the  two-thirds  necessary  for  its  adoption.  This 
test  still  forms  a  part  of  the  Constitution.  The 
convention  of  1850  twice  proposed,  almost  unan 
imously,  its  repeal ;  but  the  people  refused,  by  very 
large  majorities,  to  make  the  proposed  alteration. 

The  mode  in  which  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  should  be  constituted  was  a  matter  of  too 
great  importance  not  to  receive  the  early  notice  of 
the  convention.  The  amendment  proposed  by  my 
father  was  that  the  Legislature  should  divide  the 
state  into  sixty  districts,  making  the  number  of  rat 
able  polls  in  each  as  nearly  equal  as  they  could  be 
made  without  dividing  towns ;  and  that  each  district 
should  have  one  member.  This  would  have  been, 
substantially,  a  representation  according  to  numbers. 
But  the  small  towns  were  unwilling  to  give  up  their 
disproportionate  representation;  and  many  even  of 
the  large  towns  disliked  the  district  system.  The 
limited  number  of  the  districts  was  also  an  objection 
with  those  who  preferred  a  numerous  House  as  safer 
than  a  small  one.  The  proposition  was,  therefore, 
rejected  by  a  strong  majority.  The  theory  of  repub 
lican  equality  requires,  no  doubt,  this  system  of 
single  districts,  having  an  equal  number  of  voters  in 
each ;  and  any  departure  from  this  is,  so  far,  a  de 
parture  from  the  representative  principle,  on  which 
the  whole  government  rests.  The  practice  of  town 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  119 

representation  is,  however,  coeval  with  the  introduc 
tion  of  legislative  assemblies  in  New  England ;  and 
it  is  not  strange  that  those  little  republics,  the  town 
municipalities,  should  have  adhered  tenaciously  to 
their  ancient  privileges.  The  most,  therefore,  that 
could  be  expected,  under  these  circumstances,  was 
that  the  principle  of  equality  should  be  as  nearly 
attained  as  was  consistent  with  preserving  town 
representation.  The  attempt,  in  the  convention  of 
1850,  to  give  the  small  towns  an  advantage  even 
greater  in  this  respect  than  they  before  possessed,  by 
lessening  materially  the  representation  of  the  large 
towns,  led,  more  than  any  other  cause,  to  the  rejection 
by  the  people,  not  only  of  this,  but  of  all  the  amend 
ments  proposed  by  that  convention. 

The  constitution  of  1776  had  provided  no  Execu 
tive  Department,  separate  from  the  Legislative.  That 
of  1784  had  organized  such  a  department,  but  made 
it  a  portion  of,  and  dependent  on,  the  Legislature. 
The  amendments  under  this  head,  moved  by  my 
father,  and  adopted  by  the  convention,  consisted  in 
separating  the  governor  from  the  Senate,  and  giving 
him  a  qualified  negative  on  the  Legislature.  To 
secure  a  like  independence  in  the  Senate,  he  pro 
posed  to  enlarge  the  number  of  senators  to  fifteen, 
one  for  every  four  representatives ;  and  to  make  a 
plurality  of  votes  alone  necessary  for  a  choice  by  the 
people,  so  that  the  Senate  should  not,  in  any  case, 


120  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

depend  upon  the  House  for  the  election  of  any  of  its 
members.  The  former  motion  failed  in  the  conven 
tion,  and  the  latter  with  the  people. 

In  organizing  anew  the  judiciary  department,  the 
plan  supported  by  him  had  for  its  object,  by  lessen 
ing  the  number  of  the  courts,  and  increasing  their 
power,  to  secure  a  more  speedy  and  less  expensive 
administration  of  justice.  The  chances  of  protracted 
litigation,  as  the  law  then  stood,  were  very  great; 
and  the  consequent  duration  of  law-suits  was  almost 
interminable.  A  suit,  commenced  before  a  Justice  of 
the  Peace,  might  be  carried  to  the  General  Sessions, 
thence  to  the  Common  Pleas,  thence  to  the  Superior 
Court,  and  thence  to  the  Legislature ;  to  be  by  that 
body  sent  back  to  the  Superior  Court  for  final 
decision,  with  the  further  chance  of  a  new  trial  on 
a  writ  of  review.  Add  to  this,  that  the  verdict 
might  be  repeatedly  set  aside  by  the  court,  and  that 
the  disagreement  of  the  jury  often  prevented  any  ver 
dict  being  rendered ;  and  it  will  readily  be  believed 
that  suitors  seldom  got  what  the  bill  of  rights  prom 
ised  them — "Justice  freely,  without  being  obliged  to 
purchase  it;  completely, without  denial;  and  promptly, 
without  delay."  The  remedy  for  these  evils,  as  finally 
proposed  by  the  convention,  was  to  empower  the 
Legislature  to  abolish  the  Courts  of  Common  Pleas 
and  General  Sessions,  and  to  extend  the  jurisdiction 
of  Justices  of  the  Peace  to  sums  not  exceeding  four 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  121 

pounds.  It  was  further  proposed  that  no  person 
should  have  a  writ  of  review  after  the  case  had  been 
decided  against  him  twice  by  a  jury,  but  that  the 
court  might,  in  other  cases,  grant  a  new  trial  where, 
in  their  opinion,  justice  had  not  been  done  at  the 
former  trials.  Provision  was  also  made  for  estab 
lishing  equity  jurisdiction,  where  an  adequate  remedy 
did  not  exist  at  common  law.  It  was  believed  that 
this  system  would  produce  a  more  speedy  despatch 
of  business,  and  greatly  reduce  the  costs  of  litigation. 
But  its  effect,  in  the  first  instance,  would  have  been 
to  throw  twenty  judges  out  of  office,  and  to  destroy, 
in  a  hundred  other  influential  men,  the  hope  of 
obtaining  judgeships,  to  which,  under  the  old  system, 
they  might  have  aspired.  Those  lawyers  too,  who, 
in  organizing  the  courts,  looked  chiefly  to  their  own 
interests,  were  not  likely  to  favor  a  plan  whose  pro 
fessed  object  was  to  diminish  litigation.  The  only 
part  of  the  scheme  which  met  with  no  opposition,  was 
that  which  extended  the  jurisdiction  of  justices  of  the 
peace.  That  rather  numerous  class  of  men  found 
both  their  respectability  and  their  emoluments  in 
creased  by  the  proposed  change,  and  they  were  not 
slow  to  appreciate  its  merits.  The  other  proposed 
amendments  were  all  rejected  by  the  people.  My 
father  had  been  deeply  impressed  with  the  evils  of 
the  system  which  he  thus  sought  to  reform, — the 
litigious  spirit  which  it  engendered  among  the 


122  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK. 

people,  its  expense,  its  injustice,  and  its  delays 
"the  law's  delay" — which,  from  the  time  of  Shak- 
speare,  not  to  speak  of  the  complaints  of  earlier 
days,  had  been  the  bane  and  the  opprobrium  of 
English  jurisprudence,  and  which  had  been  repeated 
here  with  such  fatal  facility  of  imitation. 

After  having,  in  this  way,  discussed  the  various 
amendments  proposed,  the  convention  appointed  a 
committee,  of  which  my  father  was  one,  to  reduce 
them  to  form;  and  when  this  was  effected,  another 
committee  was  raised  of  two  from  each  county,  of 
which  he  was  also  a  member,  to  take  the  whole 
subject  into  consideration,  and  report  at  a  future 
meeting  the  amendments  proper  to  be  submitted  to 
the  people.  The  convention  then  adjourned  to  meet 
again  in  February  of  the  next  year.  The  committee 
of  ten  met  repeatedly,  and  was  long  in  coming  to 
any  definite  conclusions. 

"The  chief  labor  and  responsibility,"  says  my  father,  "fell 
on  me.  Peabody,  who  was  chairman,  was  disposed  to  perplex 
and  embarrass,  rather  than  aid  the  business.  Atherton  acted 
almost  uniformly  with  Peabody.  Freeman  was  opposed  to  all 
amendments.  The  infirmities  of  age  made  Payne  inactive. 
Page  was  able  and  well  disposed,  but  indolent  and  inattentive. 
The  others  gave  me  little  trouble  and  no  assistance.  The 
task,  thus  thrown  upon  me,  of  controlling  pcrverseness  and 
rousing  indolence  into  action  was  equally  laborious  and  per 
plexing.  But  I  felt  my  reputation  concerned  in  bringing  the 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  123 

business  to  a  successful  issue ;  and,  by  steady  perseverance,  I 
finally  surmounted  all  the  obstacles  thrown  in  my  way.  After 
much  discussion,  and  many  changes  and  delays,  we  agreed 
upon  amendments,  which  I  reduced  to  form,  and  transcribing 
the  whole  constitution,  introduced  them  into  their  proper 
places.  On  the  meeting  of  the  convention,  February  8th, 
1792,  our  report  was  assailed  from  various  quarters  ;  but, 
Page  and  Atherton  joining  me  in  its  defence,  (for  the  latter  no 
longer  adhered  to  Peabody,)  we  succeeded,  after  long  debates, 
from  the  9th  to  the  23d,  in  carrying  it  through,  though  not 
without  some  important  modifications.  I  was  requested,  by  a 
vote  of  the  convention,  as  all  the  amendments  had  been  drawn 
by  me,  to  arrange  them  in  their  proper  places,  and  to  assist 
the  clerk  in  making  a  copy  for  publication." 

The  convention  then  adjourned  to  meet  again  in 
May,  to  receive  the  answer  of  the  people  to  the  pro 
posed  amendments.  On  coming  together  again,  my 
father  was  appointed  chairman  of  the  committee  to 
ascertain  what  amendments  had  been  adopted,  and 
what  rejected;  and  to  report  such  farther  amend 
ments  as  might  be  necessary  to  bring  what  remained 
of  the  old  constitution  into  harmony  with  such 
provisions  of  the  new  as  had  been  adopted  by  the 
people.  This  being  done,  the  subject  was  again 
submitted  to  the  people;  and  the  labors  of  the 
convention  were  closed  by  another  short  session 
in  September.  The  constitution,  thus  formed,  still 
remains  in  force  without  alteration,  nor  was  there  any 


124  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

attempt  at  change  for  nearly  half  a  century.  Of  this 
convention  of  1791,  he  was  the  sole  survivor,  when 
that  of  1850  met,  and  he  did  not  live  to  see  its  close. 
Though  there  were,  in  the  convention  of  1791, 
many  older,  and,  at  that  time,  more  distinguished 
men  than  he,  there  was  no  one  who  took  so  active 
a  part,  or  who  had  greater  influence  in  that  body. 
By  his  industry  and  perseverance,  his  energy  and 
decision,  and,  above  all,  by  the  force  and  accuracy  of 
his  discriminating  mind,  he  acquired,  before  the  close 
of  the  convention,  a  weight  and  authority  in  that 
body  which  no  other  man  possessed.  "He  was," 
said  Judge  Livermore  to  me,  "by  all  odds,  the  most 
influential  man  in  the  convention ;  so  much  so,  that 
those  who  disliked  the  result,  called  it  Plumer's  con 
stitution,  by  way  of  insinuating  that  it  was  the  work 
of  one  man,  and  not  the  collective  wisdom  of  the 
whole  assembly."  From  the  journal  of  the  convention, 
it  appears  that  he  was  on  nearly  all  the  most  import 
ant  committees,  and  chairman  of  several  of  them. 
Several  reports  made  by  others,  were  drawn  up  by 
him.  The  amendments  were  all  submitted  to  him  for 
revision,  and  such  of  them  as  he  favored  received 
from  him  their  most  effective  support.  In  the  man 
uscript  volume,  which  remains  of  the  papers  and 
documents  relating  to  the  convention,  there  is  little, 
except  the  journal,  which  is  not  either  in  his  hand 
writing,  or  in  that  of  Jeremiah  Smith — about  three 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  125 

times  as  much  of  the  former  as  of  the  latter.  Both 
these  men  were  at  this  time  comparatively  young, 
ambitious  of  distinction,  hard  workers,  prompt  in 
action,  and  ready  and  willing  alike  with  the  tongue 
and  the  pen.  They  concurred  for  the  most  part  in 
their  general  views  of  policy,  though  occasionally 
differing  on  questions  of  minor  importance.  But  in 
concert  or  opposition,  it  was  hard  to  say  whether, 
aside  from  the  strength  of  their  arguments,  th^  House 
most  admired  the  broad  humor,  the  Scotch-Irish 
drollery  and  shrewdness  of  Smith,  or  the  keen  retort, 
the  ready  resources,  and  strong  practical  common 
sense  of  Plumer.  Smith,  being  at  that  time  a  member 
of  Congress,  was  present  only  during  the  first  session 
of  ten  days,  and  bore  no  part  in  the  subsequent  pro 
ceedings.  Plumer  was  present  to  the  end,  and  busy 
from  the  first.  They  had  served  together  in  the 
Legislature,  as  well  as  in  the  convention,  and  con 
tracted  a  friendship  for  each  other,  which  was  long  a 
source  of  mutual  satisfaction,  though  not  destined 
to  survive  the  vicissitudes  of  policy  and  opinion,  of 
feeling  and  interest,  which,  in  the  progress  of  events, 
placed  them  ultimately  at  the  head  of  opposite  parties 
in  the  state. 

My  father  did  not  fail  on  this  occasion  of  the  usual 
accompaniment  of  eminence — the  envy  and  abuse  of 
rivals  and  opponents.  The  proposed  amendments 
were  assailed  with  great  zeal  and  violence  in  news- 


126  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

papers  and  in  pamphlets ;  in  which  he  came  in  for 
his  full  share  of  calumny  and  detraction,  as  their 
author  and  most  prominent  defender.  To  some  of 
these  strictures  he  replied  in  the  public  papers,  but, 
with  his  usual  reserve  in  this  respect,  he  took  no 
notice  whatever  of  anything  in  them  which  was 
personal. 

If  the  object  of  these  attacks  was  indifferent  to 
them,  he  was  not  so  to  the  loss  of  time  which  the 
labors  of  the  convention  occasioned  him.  He  had 
this  year  spent  nine  months  out  of  the  twelve,  in  the 
Legislature,  of  which  he  was  speaker,  in  the  conven 
tion,  where  his  labors  were  unremitted,  and  in  the 
courts  of  law,  where  his  business  was  limited  in 
amount  only  by  his  power  of  performance.  This 
long  absence  from  home  was  unpleasant  to  his  feel 
ings  ;  and  his  fatigue  of  body  and  anxiety  of  mind 
seriously  affected  his  health.  He  was  confined,  after 
his  return  from  the  convention,  for  some  time,  to  his 
bed,  by  a  severe  attack  of  illness.  "  Finding,"  he  says, 
"  my  constitution  too  feeble  to  support  such  incessant 
exertion,  I  resolved  to  abandon  public  life,  and,  con 
fining  myself  to  my  profession,  to  enjoy,  more  than 
I  had  of  late  done,  the  comforts  of  home  and  family, 
the  society  of  my  friends,  and  the  solace  and 
improvement  of  my  books.  There  was  no  office  that 
I  desired.  I  commenced  public  life  with  a  resolution 
that  I  would  attach  myself  to  no  party  or  faction, 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  127 

but  perform  my  duty,  regardless  of  consequences  to 
myself.  I  have  thus  far  pursued  this  course ;  and 
I  am  not  conscious  of  having  done  anything  con 
trary  to  my  judgment,  at  the  time,  of  what  was 
right  and  proper."  It  was  with  these  feelings  and 
intentions  that  he  declined  an  election  to  the 
House,  in  1792,  and  devoted  himself,  thenceforth, 
with  fresh  alacrity  to  the  law.  He  had,  as  yet,  ac 
quired  but  little  property,  and  he  felt  that  the  first 
claims  on  him  were  those  of  his  family.  "I  do  not 
care,"  he  said,  "how  hard  the  path  is,  so  it  leads 
finally  to  independence.  This  I  can  and  will  achieve, 
if  life  is  spared  me  a  few  years  longer.  Wealth  I  do 
not  expect,  nor,  indeed,  much  desire.  Competence 
is  my  aim ;  and  I  labor  to  make  my  wants  few,  that 
I  may  the  more  easily  supply  them." 

But  though,  for  the  next  six  years,  he  held  no 
public  office,  and  devoted  himself  chiefly  to  his  busi 
ness  as  a  lawyer,  he  lost  none  of  his  usual  interest  in 
the  political  events  of  the  day.  The  hostility  to 
Washington's  administration,  showing  itself  so  strongly 
in  opposition  to  the  proclamation  of  neutrality,  and 
to  Jay's  treaty,  which,  at  one  time,  it  seemed  prob 
able  would  be  defeated,  and  the  subsequent  troubles 
under  Adams,  ending  in  the  quasi  war,  as  it  was 
called,  with  France,  wrarmly  interested  his  feelings, 
and  made  him,  in  the  end,  more  of  a  party  politician 
than  he  had  ever  been  before.  He  considered  the 


128  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

Federalists  as  essentially  right,  through  the  whole  of 
these  transactions,  and  the  Republicans  as  blinded  to 
the  true  interests  of  the  country  by  their  hostility  to 
England,  their  admiration  of  France,  and  their  devo 
tion  to  party  leaders  who  looked  more  to  their  own 
advancement  than  to  the  public  good.  He  had,  him 
self,  no  foreign  partialities  or  predilections ;  having, 
he  said,  as  little  confidence  in  the  good  will  of  Eng 
land  as  in  the  fraternal  affection  of  France.  u  On 
reviewing  these  subjects,  after  a  lapse  of  thirty  years, 
I  still  think,"  he  says,  "  that  my  opinions  on  these 
great  national  questions  were  correct.  But,  on  read 
ing  copies  of  the  letters  I  then  wrote,  I  find  them 
too  censorious  of  those  who  differed  with  me,  and  too 
eulogistic  of  those  with  whom  I  then  thought  and 
acted.  I  have  since  learned  to  be  more  charitable 
to  my  opponents,  and  to  confide  less  blindly  in  polit 
ical  associates." 

Writing  to  his  friend  Smith  (March  15,  1796),  he 
says,  "  I  might  have  been  elected  to  the  House,  from 
this  town,  but  I  declined.  My  services  would  have 
borne  no  just  proportion  to  the  loss  I  should  have 
sustained  in  my  business ;  and  the ,  state  of  affairs 
here  did  not  seem  to  demand  the  sacrifice."  His 
feelings,  however,  became  by  degrees  so  much  inter 
ested  in  the  political  action  of  the  two  great  parties 
which  then  divided  the  country,  that,  when  his 
townsmen  elected  him,  in  his  absence,  once  more  to 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER.  129 

the  Legislature  (March,  1797),  he  could  no  longer 
resist  the  call;  though  his  inclination,  he  says,  no 
less  than  his  interests,  still  bound  him  to  his  profes 
sional  pursuits.  In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Gordon,  then  in 
Congress  (May  29th,  1797),  he  writes: 

"  I  am  pleased  with  the  President's  speech,  which  mani 
fests,  in  strong  terms,  his  love  of  country.  This  is  what  we 
most  want  j  not  love  nor  hatred  towards  other  countries,  but 
attachment  to  our  own.  I  wait  with  anxiety  for  the  answer 
of  your  House.  I  trust  it  will  be  in  language  worthy  of 
freemen,  firm  and  federal.  Some  think  that,  after  tlie  insults 
and  injuries  we  have  received  from  France,  it  would  be  dis 
honorable  to  attempt  further  negotiation.  I  am  not  of  that 
opinion.  I  would  not  sacrifice  the  peace  and  prosperity  of 
my  country  to  resentments,  however  just,  on  trie  one  hand, 
nor  to  trie  etiquette  of  state  on  the  other.  But  if  a  minister 
is  to  be  sent,  I  presume  it  will  not  be  Madison  or  Gallatin, — 
we  have  suffered  enougb  already,  from  such  characters,  in 
trie  person  of  Monroe.  I  hope  you  will  not  lay  an  embargo 
011  our  vessels,  as  I  see  is  proposed  by  some.  It  would 
injure  our  commerce  much,  and  our  revenue  more ;  or  rather 
totally  destroy  botb,  without  affecting  materially  the  French. 
It  is  folly  to  talk  of  starving  France.  Let  each  merchant, 
judging  for  himself,  embargo  his  own  property,  if  he  will, 
or  hazard  the  danger  of  French,  piracy,  if  he  prefers  that 
course." 

On  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  in  June,  my 
father  was  elected  speaker.  "  The  ballots  being 


130  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMEB. 

counted/'  lie  says  in  a  letter  to  Smith  (June  11, 
1797),  "  it  appeared  that  John  Goddard  had  three, 
"Woodbury  Langdon  seven,  Russell  Freeman  forty- 
one,  and  that  I  had  seventy-three  votes.  Considering 
that  Freeman  was  speaker  last  year,  and  had  behaved 
well  in  the  office,  and  that  I  had  not  been  in  the 
House  for  the  last  six  years,  and  was  personally 
known  to  but  few  of  the  members,  I  was,  I  confess, 
disappointed  as  well  as  gratified  at  the  result.  The 
governor  has  given  us  a  moderate,  but  firm,  federal 
speech.  We  shall  have  an  answer,  the  sentiments 
and  composition  of  which  will  not  make  you  blush 
for  New  Hampshire.  The  mail  going  from  this  place 
(Concord)  but  once  a  week,  is  a  sufficient  excuse  for 
my  not  writing  you  sooner."  Between  a  mail  once 
a  week,  and  ten  mails  a  day,  wrhich  is  about  the 
present  supply  of  Concord,  there  is  a  difference  sig 
nificant  of  the  times,  and  the  progress  of  events.* 
Among  other  proofs  how  entirely  the  new  speaker 
possessed  the  confidence  of  the  House,  it  may  be 
mentioned  that  they  gave  him  the  nomination  of  all 
committees,  which  had  never,  I  believe,  been  done 
before.  "The  House,"  he  says,  "appointed  every 
man  whom  I  nominated ;  so  that,  in  fact,  I  had  the 

*  My  father's  letters  were  usually  ten  or  twelve  days  in  reaching  him 
from  Philadelphia.  There  was  then  no  post-office  at  Epping,  and  he  sent 
nine  miles  to  Exeter  for  his  letters  and  papers,  which,  at  a  later  period,  were 
brought  to  him  by  a  post-rider,  once  a  week. 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  131 

appointment  of  all  the  committees."  The  second 
session  was  held  at  Portsmouth,  in  November  and 
December.  Though  it  was  a  long  and  busy  session, 
there  was  nothing  done  w7hich  need  be  here  noticed. 
At  its  close,  the  speaker  received  the  unanimous 
"  thanks  of  the  House,  for  his  candid,  impartial,  and 
indefatigable  services."  Such  votes  are  now  matters 
of  course ;  yet  some  inference  may,  perhaps,  be 
drawn  from  the  terms  used  as  to  the  kind  of  service 
rendered.  Industry  and  impartiality  were  qualities 
in  wrhich  he  was  not  likely  to  be  deficient.  He 
found,  however,  the  labors  of  the  chair  too  much  for 
his  health ;  and,  in  other  respects,  he  did  not  much 
like  his  position.  Though  not  debarred  from  taking 
part  occasionally  in  debate,  he  felt  that  a  seat  on  the 
floor  would  have  been  more  pleasant  to  him,  and  at 
times,  perhaps,  more  useful  to  the  public. 

He  was,  the  next  year  (March,  1798,)  re-elected  to 
the  House.  His  old  law-instructor,  Prentice,  was 
chosen  speaker.  My  father  was  told,  by  many  of  his 
friends,  that  his  services  on  committees,  and  on  the 
floor,  would  be  more  important  than  any  he  could 
render  in  the  chair.  This  agreed  so  well  with  his 
own  views  and  feelings  on  the  subject,  that  he  yielded 
readily  to  them,  though  aware  that  some,  who  used 
this  civil  language  towards  him,  were  not  willing 
that  the  influence  which  he  had  acquired  at  the 
former  session,  should  be  increased  by  a  second  term 


132  LIFE     OP    WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

of  service  as  speaker.  He  was  chairman  of  the  com 
mittee  on  the  governor's  speech,  and  drew  up  the 
answer  of  the  House.  He  did  the  same  at  the 
November  session.  In  both  these  papers,  as  well 
as  in  the  Address  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  the  most  entire  confidence  was  expressed  in 
the  wisdom  and  integrity  of  the  general  govern 
ment  ;  and  the  people  of  the  state  were  pledged  to 
support  its  measures  in  defence  of  the  rights  and 
honor  of  the  country,  even  should  they  terminate  in 
a  war  with  France.  This  was  his  own  view  of  the 
case.  He  felt  strongly,  where  the  question  was 
between  his  own  and  a  foreign  country;  and  was, 
on  this  occasion,  equally  indignant  at  "the  insults 
and  encroachments  of  the  terrible  republic,"  and 
angry  with  "those  degenerate  Americans,  who  take 
part  with  a  foreign  power  against  their  own  govern 
ment."  The  Address  was  adopted  with  only  four 
dissenting  votes  in  the  House,  and  passed  the  Senate 
unanimously. 

A  motion  to  increase  the  governor's  pay,  by  an 
extra  allowance,  gave  him  occasion  to  express  his 
views  on  the  subject  of  salaries  generally.  He  was 
opposed,  upon  principle,  to  the  high  payment  of 
public  officers.  "  The  true  rule  is,"  he  said,  "  to  hold 
out  such  inducements,  and  such  only,  as  will  obtain. 
in  any  given  case,  the  services  required.  In  employ 
ments,  such  as  clerkships,  where  there  is  much  labor 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER.  133 

and  little  honor,  money  is  the  chief,  if  not  the  only 
inducement ;  and  of  this,  enough  should  be  given  to 
secure  faithful  and  efficient  officers.  Let  the  labor  be 
paid  for,  like  other  labor,  at  the  market  price.  But 
in  offices  of  higher  character,  other  considerations 
come  into  the  account.  Not  to  speak  of  patriotism, 
or  public  spirit,  there  are  other  allowable,  if  not 
generous  motives  of  action,  such  as  ambition,  the 
love  of  power,  the  thirst  for  distinction,  and  on  these 
we  may  rely  largely,  to  secure  the  services  of  the 
best  men  for  offices  of  high  honor  and  responsibility. 
Yet,  as  few  are  so  wealthy  as  to  be  altogether  above 
pecuniary  considerations,  there  must  be  something  in 
the  way  of  emolument  attached  to  offices,  even  of  the 
highest  power  and  distinction.  But  this  should  not 
be  such  as  to  make  the  pay,  in  any  case,  other  than  a 
secondary  consideration.  He  is  unworthy  of  any  high 
office,  who,  in  accepting  it,  thinks  chiefly  of  the  salary, 
and  that  salary  is,  for  the  same  reason,  too  high,  which 
induces  men  to  regard  office  as  desirable  chiefly  on 
account  of  it.  Ambition  brings  men  of  noble  feel 
ings  and  generous  natures  into  competition  with  one 
another  for  the  public  favor ;  but  the  love  of  money 
is  felt  chiefly  by  men  of  baser  natures,  who  resort  to 
ignoble  means  to  obtain  their  objects,  and  who,  when 
in  office,  promote  men  like  themselves,  looking  only 
to  the  narrow  purposes  of  party  policy,  or,  lower  still, 
to  their  own  sordid  interests.  High  salaries  have  thus 


134  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

a  tendency  to  bring  into  the  lists  men  who  are  unfit 
for  office,  and  who,  but  for  the  scent  of  prey,  would 
leave  the  field  to  the  competition  of  better  and  more 
deserving  men.  Pay  those  with  money  then,  who 
can  earn  only  money.  But  let  honor,  power,  the 
consciousness  of  duty  well  performed,  be  the  chief, 
as  it  must  ever  be  the  highest  reward  of  meritorious 
exertions  in  the  public  service.  It  will  be  time 
enough  to  give  more,  when  good  men  cannot  be 
obtained  on  these  terms.  At  present,  there  is  no 
lack  of  candidates  for  political  offices  among  our  best 
and  ablest  men."  On  these  grounds  he  was  the  advo 
cate  of  low  salaries  for  high  offices.  These  opinions 
were  not  now  advanced  by  him  for  any  temporary 
purposes,  but  were  adhered  to,  when  he,  himself, 
many  years  after,  filled  the  office  whose  salary  he 
now  sought  to  keep  within  its  former  bounds. 

A  striking  instance  occurred,  near  the  close  of  the 
session,  of  his  moderation  and  command  of  temper 
under  very  trying  circumstances.  In  the  choice  of 
a  Senator  to  Congress,  the  Speaker,  Prentice,  was  a 
candidate,  but  did  not  succeed,  the  old  Senator  Liver- 
more  being  re-elected.  Prentice  imputed  his  failure 
to  a  severe  attack  made  on  him  in  a  Concord  news 
paper.  Believing  this  to  have  been  written  by  his 
former  pupil,  he  brought  the  subject  before  the 
House ;  and,  after  denouncing  the  writer  as  a  mis 
creant  and  a  viper,  he  turned  suddenly  on  my  father, 


LIFE    OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  135 

and,  foaming  with  rage  and  stamping  with  his  foot, 
defied  him,  with  oaths  and  imprecations,  to  deny 
that  he  was  the  author  of  the  infamous  libel  on  his 
character.  The  House,  astonished  at  this  indecent 
ebullition,  remained  for  some  time  silent,  yet  with 
looks  of  shame  and  rebuke,  at  the  indignity  thus 
inflicted,  not  less  on  itself  than  on  one  of  its  mem 
bers,  by  the  presiding  officer  of  the  assembly.  All 
eyes  were  turned  toward  the  object  of  this  unpro 
voked  attack,  who,  however,  sat  quietly  in  his  place, 
unmoved  amidst  the  tumult  of  passion,  and  not  even 
condescending  to  inform  the  House,  as  he  might  truly 
have  done,  that  he  did  not  know  the  author,  and  had 
never  seen  the  article  in  question  till  it  appeared  in 
print.  Having  vented  his  passion  in  this  manner, 
without  even  the  poor  consolation  of  provoking  a 
reply,  the  speaker  left  the  chair  and  withdrew  from 
the  House.  It  afterwards  appeared  that  the  offensive 
article  was  written  by  a  son  of  the  successful  candi 
date.  This  self-command  under  insult  w^as  not  the 
effect  of  insensibility,  but  grew  out  of  principle ;  and 
the  anger  which  he  could  not  but  feel,  was  tempered, 
in  this  case,  by  pity  for  his  old  instructor,  degrading 
himself  in  the  vain  attempt  to  disgrace  his  former 
pupil.  By  some,  it  may  be  thought  that  he  ought  to 
have  made  it  what  is  absurdly  called  an  affair  of 
honor,  or,  if  not,  that  he  should  have  shown  at  least 
as  much  passion  in  repelling  the  attack  in  words,  as 


136  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

Prentice  had  shown  in  making  it.  But  he  deliber 
ately  rejected  the  use  of  all  such  means.  The  pistol, 
the  club,  and  the  fist  were,  in  his  opinion,  not  only 
unworthy  of  him,  but  he  did  not  even  hold  it  expe 
dient  to  return  railing  for  railing  in  this  case.  "Folly," 
he  said,  "is  best  answered  by  silence.  If  we  do  but 
respect  ourselves,  we  need  not  much  fear  the  disre 
spect  of  others."  Of  an  ardent  temperament,  he  made 
the  government  of  his  passions  an  object  of  unre 
mitting  care,  and  with  such  success,  that  he  might  be 
justly  called  a  man  of  strong  passions  under  strong 
control.  What  the  House  thought  of  "the  miscre 
ant  and  the  viper"  may  be  inferred  from  their  unani 
mously  choosing  him  speaker  pro  tern,  in  the  absence  of 
Prentice;  from  his  being  selected  to  preside  over  the 
convention,  when  both  Houses  met  in  that  form,  to 
discuss  the  proportion  of  taxes ;  and  from  his  being 
put  on  not  less  than  twenty-nine  committees,  and 
prevented  from  being  on  more  by  his  claiming  the 
benefit  of  the  rule  excusing  any  member  from  serv 
ing  on  more  than  three  committees  which  had  not 
already  reported.  When  he  met  Prentice  again, 
which  was  not  till  the  next  year,  the  latter  was 
particularly  attentive  and  even  obsequious  to  him. 
He  took  such  changes,  whether  of  servility  or  of 
abuse,  more  quietly  than  most  men  are  disposed  to 
do.  "  Thrice  happy  he  who  tempers  so  his  blood." 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK.  137 

He  was  not,  the  next  year,  a  member  of  the 
House.  In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Gordon  (February,  1799), 
he  says,  "  My  attention  to  business,  to  company,  to 
the  General  Court,  and  to  the  Courts  of  Law,  has  so 
much  injured  my  health,  that  I  am  determined,  in 
future,  to  work  less  and  to  live  easier.  I  shall  begin 
by  relinquishing  politics,  or,  in  other  words,  not  going 
this  year  to  the  Legislature.  My  professional  labors 
are  as  much  as,  with  my  feeble  health,  I  can  well 
endure.  At  my  time  of  life,  with  a  young  family, 
and  not  much  property,  I  cannot  retire  from  busi 
ness;  though  I  hope  to  do  so  before  many  years, — 
certainly  as  soon  as  I  feel  myself  independent."  His 
interest  in  public  affairs  was,  however,  too  strong  to 
allow  him  long  to  withdraw  from  public  life.  On 
the  apparent  return  of  better  health,  he  was,  the 
next  year,  (March,  1800),  again  elected  to  the 
House. 

In  April,  he  lost  his  mother.  Her  sudden  and 
unexpected  dissolution  produced  a  sicknesss  which 
confined  him,  for  some  days,  to  his  bed.  "  She  was," 
he  says,  u  one  of  the  best  of  mothers,  and  I  loved  her 
tenderly.  No  woman  ever  possessed  a  sweeter  dis 
position,  or  discharged  the  duties  of  her  station  with 
more  prudence,  or  greater  fidelity." 

In  June,  he  was  again  so  ill  as  to  be  unable  to 
attend  the  Legislature  till  its  second  week,  though 
urged  to  it  by  letters  and  messages  from  many  of  his 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

friends.  The  great  question  of  the  session  was  on 
the  memorial  of  certain  persons,  asking  for  the  estab 
lishment  of  another  bank  in  Portsmouth.  Soon  after 
the  establishment  of  the  New  Hampshire  Bank,  a 
company  was  formed  in  that  town,  which  issued  bills 
and  transacted  the  ordinary  business  of  a  bank, 
though  unincorporated.  The  old  bank  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  Federalists ;  the  new  one,  established  by 
Langdon,  Sherburne,  Goddard,  and  other  Republicans, 
was  not  a  mere  money  concern,  but  was  intended  as 
an  engine  of  political  power.  They  had,  the  year 
before,  applied  for  an  act  of  incorporation,  which  was 
denied  them;  and  a  law  was  passed,  making  all  such 
unincorporated  banking  associations  unlawful.  The 
state  had,  also,  become  a  stockholder  in  the  old  bank. 
The  March  elections  had  turned  mainly,  in  many 
places,  on  this  bank  question ;  and  the  Republicans 
had  gained  largely  by  the  votes  of  men  who  regarded 
the  old  bank  as  a  monopoly,  the  state  subscription  as 
a  bribe,  and  the  new  bank  as  the  only  sure  remedy 
for  the  financial  evils  of  the  times. 

The  question  came  up  in  the  House  on  a  memorial 
of  the  new  bank,  praying  for  the  repeal  of  the  prohi 
bition  on  unincorporated  banking  associations,  the 
law  not  having  yet  gone  into  operation.  The  Feder 
alists  were  opposed  to  the  request,  chiefly  on  party 
grounds.  My  father  had  opposed  the  old  bank  on 
considerations  of  general  policy,  and  was  equally 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  139 

opposed,  on  the  same  grounds,  to  the  new.  The 
committee  had  reported  against  the  prayer  of  the 
memorialists ;  and,  the  question  coming  up  for  dis 
cussion  immediately  on  his  taking  his  seat,  he  moved 
its  postponement  till  the  afternoon,  having  left  some 
notes,  which  he  had  made  on  the  subject,  at  his 
lodgings.  This  motion,  however,  did  not  prevail ; 
and  Goddard,  who  was  one  of  the  petitioners,  and 
the  ablest  debater  on  the  Republican  side,  strenu 
ously  opposed  the  acceptance  of  the  report.  "  After 
he  sat  down,"  says  my  father,  "  I  addressed  the 
House,  vindicating  the  report  of  the  committee,  and 
assigning  reasons  why  it  should  be  accepted.  Though 
weak  from  ill  health,  I  occupied  the  floor  more  than 
an  hour,  and  suffered  no  inconvenience  for  the  want 
of  my  notes.  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  being  listened 
to  by  the  House,  and  the  crowded  galleries,  with  an 
attention  which  would  have  clone  honor  to  Dexter  or 
Ames.  The  report  was  accepted."  The  session  closed 
on  Monday,  June  16th.  So  much  of  the  old  strict 
ness  of  opinion  prevailed  with  the  governor,  that  he 
refused  to  adjourn  the  Houses  on  Saturday,  lest  some 
of  the  members  might  travel  towards  their  homes  on 
the  Sabbath. 

In  the  selection  of  Representatives  to  Congress,  he 
was  urged  by  his  friends  to  become  a  candidate,  but 
refused  on  the  ground  of  ill  health.  He  was  also 
proposed  as  a  candidate  for  the  Senate,  but  declined 


140  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

in  favor  of  his  friend  Sheafe,  who  was  elected,  though 
not  by  a  large  majority.  The  Federalists  were  evi 
dently  losing  ground,  and  the  new  bank  was  gaining 
friends  in  every  part  of  the  state.  This  was  sensibly 
felt,  among  other  places,  in  Epping,  where  many  of 
my  father's  old  federal  friends  insisted  on  a  pledge 
from  him  not  to  oppose  the  incorporation  of  the 
Union  Bank.  This  he  refused  to  give  them,  though 
they  told  him  that  without  it  he  could  not,  and,  some 
said,  he  should  not,  be  re-elected.  He  told  them  at 
once  that,  if  civilly  asked  to  decline,  he  should  have 
willingly  done  so;  but  that,  since  they  had  threat 
ened  him,  he  should  put  himself  before  the  people 
for  their  verdict.  He  accordingly  argued  the  ques 
tion  of  the  bank  in  the  town  meeting,  and  was 
re-elected  (March,  1801),  on  the  third  trial,  by  a 
majority  of  three  votes,  against  two  popular  candi 
dates,  a  Federalist  and  a  Republican,  both  friends  of 
the  Bank.  When  the  House  met  at  Hopkinton,  in 
June,  1801,  though  the  Federalists  had  a  decided 
majority,  John  Langdon,  the  Republicans'  bank  can 
didate,  wanted  but  two  votes  of  being  elected 
speaker.  Prentice  owed  his  majority  of  one  to  my 
father's  reluctant  vote.  He  used  afterwards  to  say 
that  this  vote  was  the  strongest  proof  he  ever  gave 
of  the  influence  of  party  over  his  conduct;  since 
Prentice  had  not  only  never  made  an  apology  for 
the  gross  insult  he  had,  on  a  former  occasion,  offered 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  141 

him,  but  was  really  much  inferior  as  a  presiding 
officer  to  Langdon.  If,  in  this  case,  party  spirit 
proved  paramount  to  all  other  considerations,  it  came 
in  the  disguise  of  duty,  and  with  a  feeling  of  magna 
nimity,  to  which  he  was  ever  ready  to  yield.  "  A 
sense  of  personal  injury  never,"  he  says,  at  another 
time,  "influenced  my  public  conduct;  and  I  trust 
my  life  will  not  be  protracted  to  receive  so  foul  a 
stain."  "  In  taking  revenge,"  says  Bacon,  "  a  man  is 
but  equal  to  his  enemy ;  in  passing  it  over,  he  is 
superior."  He  now  had  cause  to  feel  this.  Prentice 
was  grateful  for  the  favor  so  unexpectedly  received, 
and  acknowledged  his  fault. 

The  proprietors  of  the  Union  Bank  renewed,  at 
this  session,  their  application  for  an  act  of  incorpora 
tion.  The  Federalists  being  divided  in  opinion  as 
to  the  policy  of  granting  this  request,  the  bill  passed 
the  House,  but  was  rejected  by  the  Senate.  My 
father  opposed  this  application  to  the  end,  both  on 
the  ground  originally  taken  by  him  against  all  state 
banks,  and,  more  strongly,  on  the  peculiar  circum 
stances  of  the  present  case.  At  the  next  session, 
when  he  was  not  a  member,  they  succeeded  in 
obtaining  a  charter.  The  Republican  party  had,  in 
the  mean  time,  by  the  election  of  Mr.  Jefferson  to  the 
Presidency,  gained  the  ascendency  in  the  General 
Government ;  but  the  party  in  New  Hampshire  was 
still  in  the  minority,  and  the  accessions  which  it 


142  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

received  were  owing  more  to  this  local  question  of 
the  Union  Bank  than  to  any  considerations  of  national 
policy.  The  system  of  paper  money,  except  in  the 
old  form  of  state  notes,  which  had  everywhere  proved 
disastrous  to  the  public  credit,  was  at  that  time  a 
novelty  in  this  state ;  and  my  father  had  early  made 
up  his  mind  against  its  introduction,  and  was  still 
opposed  to  its  extension.  Yet  there  is  little  doubt 
that  it  has  proved,  oh  the  whole,  beneficial  to  the 
public  interests ;  and,  one  bank  being  established,  it 
was  obvious  that  a  second  could  not  long  be  refused. 
For  years  the  Union  Bank  confined  its  loans  to  its 
political  friends,  or  to  those  whom  it  hoped  to  make 
such.  The  old  bank  was,  probably,  not  more  liberal 
in  its  policy.  In  the  mean  time,  the  system  of  state 
banks  has  spread  in  all  directions,  and  has  ultimately 
superseded  the  original  design  of  a  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  which,  after  agitating  for  years  the 
public  mind,  and  influencing  deeply  more  than  one 
presidential  election,  has  become  at  length,  in  the 
words  of  a  late  distinguished  New  Hampshire  states 
man,  "  an  obsolete  idea." 

The  day  after  the  adjournment,  my  father  thus 
took  leave  of  public  life,  in  a  letter  (June  18,  1801,) 
to  one  of  his  friends.  "As  a  legislator,  I  now 
bid  you  adieu.  I  have  served  eight  years  in  the 
General  Court,  and  one  in  the  convention.  I  have 
spent  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  the  best  years  of 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  143 

my  life  in  the  public  service ;  and  may  now,  I  trust, 
fairly  claim  my  discharge,  for  the  present,  at  least,  if 
not  forever."  To  another,  he  soon  after  wrote  :  "My 
attention  to  business  for  the  last  fifteen  years  has 
much  impaired  my  health,  and  injured  my  consti 
tution,  which,  at  the  best,  was  never  strong.  I  am 
now,  for  a  great  portion  of  my  time,  a  feeble  invalid. 
This  has  induced  me  of  late  to  think  seriously  of  relin 
quishing,  not  only  my  public  life,  but  my  profession ; 
and  of  devoting  myself  in  future,  wholly  to  my 
family,  my  friends,  and  my  books.  These  have 
always  been  the  great  sources  of  my  purest  enjoy 
ments,  and  I  feel  the  need  of  no  other." 

In  the  preceding  account,  I  have  not  attempted  a 
full  history  of  his  services  in  the  legislature;  but  have 
confined  myself  to  such  parts  only  as  were  impor 
tant  in  themselves,  or  calculated  to  throw  light  on 
his  character  and  opinions;  without  descending  to 
the  petty  detail  of  personal  jealousies  and  political 
intrigues,  by  which,  in  the  warfare  of  party,  most 
public  men  are  so  often  assailed  and  annoyed,  if  not 
degraded  and  disgraced.  One  thing  is  particularly 
observable  in  this  review, — the  fearless  independence 
of  his  conduct,  from  his  first  protest,  "single  and 
alone,"  against  the  justice  trial  bill,  to  his  persevering 
opposition  to  the  Union  Bank,  when  many  of  the 
party  leaders  thought  it  prudent  to  desist.  In  several 


144  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

cases,  not  here  recorded,  he  came  into  bold,  and  some 
times  sharp  collision  with  some  of  the  most  influential 
Federalists  of  the  state,  on  points  where  he  thought 
them  wrong.  His  support  of  party  was  the  action  of 
an  independent  mind,  governed  by  its  own  sense  of 
right;  not  the  blind  submission  of  a  slave  to  the  com 
mands  of  a  master.  A  letter  written  about  this  time, 
(June,  1801,)  to  his  old  acquaintance,  Henry  Dear 
born,  then  Secretary  of  War,  shows  the  feelings  with 
which  he  regarded  the  new  administration, — doubtful 
of  its  policy,  but  disposed  to  judge  it  fairly  by  its 
acts.  "My  political  opinions  do  not  accord  with 
those  of  the  President;  but  I  am  of  no  faction.  I 
am  neither  attached  to  the  English,  nor  prejudiced 
against  the  French.  My  sentiments  are  American ; 
and  my  disposition  is  to  support  the  administration  of 
my  country,  so  far  as  it  appears  to  me  not  positively 
injurious  to  her  best  interests.  I  have  seen  things 
in  Mr.  Adams's  administration,  which  I  could  not 
approve ;  and  I  doubt  not  that  I  shall  see  measures 
adopted  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  that  will  meet  with  my 
cordial  support." 

In  September,  while  attending  the  Superior  Court, 
at  Dover,  he  was  seized  with  so  severe  an  attack 
of  colic,  that  it  was  with  difficulty  he  reached  his 
home.  Much  as  he  had  often  before  suffered,  he  wras 
till  then,  he  writes,  "ignorant  of  extreme  pain."  "My 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  145 

suffering,"  he  continues,  "was  so  intense  that  I  wished 
relief,  though  at  the  expense  of  life.  My  physician 
pronounced  my  case  desperate,  and  said  he  could 
afford  no  relief.  At  this  moment,  I  felt  a  strong  incli 
nation  to  drink  cold  water.  The  physician  thought 
this  hazardous ;  but,  convinced  that  I  could  not  long 
live  in  that  condition,  and  absolving  him  from  all 
blame  in  the  case,  I  drank  more  than  a  pint  of  cold 
water  at  once.  The  severity  of  my  pain  immediately 
abated.  I  fell  into  a  calm  sleep  for  half  an  hour;  and 
awoke  with  the  feeling  that  the  crisis  of  the  disease 
was  past.  I  was  confined  fourteen  days  to  my 
chamber,  and  most  of  the  time  to  my  bed.'* 

The  determination,  produced  by  the  state  of  his 
health,  to  withdraw  from  public  life,  was,  the  next 
year,  put  to  a  test  which  he  had  not  foreseen.  After 
serving  one  session  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
Mr.  Sheafe  resigned  his  seat  in  that  body,  and  my 
father  was  chosen  (June  17, 1802,)  to  fill  the  vacancy 
thus  created.  So  little  had  this  event  been  antici 
pated,  that  he  says,  in  a  letter  to  Smith,  (June  23, 
1802,)  «I  had  not  even  a  hint  that  Mr.  Sheafe 
intended  to  resign,  till  I  was  informed  of  my  own 
election.  My  friends  studiously  concealed  it  from 
me  ;  no  member  of  the  Legislature  had  any  reason  to 
believe  that  I  should  accept ;  and  it  is  certain,  had  I 
been  consulted,  I  should  have  declined  being  a  candi- 
10 


146  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

date."  A  seat  in  Congress,  and  especially  in  the 
Senate,  is,  on  many  accounts,  so  desirable,  that, 
taking  a  lively  interest  in  public  affairs  as  he  did, 
and  not  unambitious  of  distinction,  it  is  not  to  be 
supposed  that  he  felt  averse  to  its  honors,  or  indif 
ferent  to  its  attractions.  He  had,  however,  long 
regarded  the  practice  of  the  law  as  his  true  voca 
tion  ;  and  he  looked  with  jealousy  upon  whatever 
interfered  with  his  profession.  He  had,  indeed, 
served  eight  years  in  the  Legislature;  but  even  this 
service  he  declined,  when,  from  the  state  of  his 
health,  he  found  himself  unequal  to  the  claims  upon 
him,  at  once,  of  the  lawyer  and  the  politician.  He  had 
more  than. once  declined  being  a  candidate  for  a  seat 
in  Congress,  either  in  the  House  or  Senate.  Both 
these  places  were  desirable ;  but  it  was,  in  his  view, 
more  desirable  by  the  steady  pursuit  of  his  profes 
sion,  now  more  than  ever  lucrative,  to  secure  such  an 
amount  of  property  as  should  place  him  above  want, 
and  at  ease  with  respect  to  his  family,  before  the 
state  of  his  health,  already  impaired,  should  render 
labor,  once  a  pleasure,  thenceforth  a  burden,  or  worse, 
an  impossibility.  Believing  that  public  office  would 
be  always  within  his  reach,  or,  if  not,  that  there  was 
little  to  regret  in  its  absence,  he  felt  no  impatience 
to  grasp  at  the  first  chances  of  success.  "  The  state 
of  my  health,"  he  wrrote,  "is  bad;  my  wife  is  an 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  147 

invalid ;  my  children  are  young,  and  their  education 
demands  my  attention.  My  pecuniary  affairs  are 
unsettled,  and  require  much  of  my  time  to  put  them 
in  order.  The  office  of  senator  is,  indeed,  as  high  and 
honorable  as  my  ambition  ever  prompted  me  to  wish, 
and  before  I  was  elected  to  it,  its  honors  and  advan 
tages  seemed  inviting ;  but,  now  that  it  has  come,  the 
privations  to  which  it  will  subject  me,  diminish  its 
value  in  my  estimation,  and,  instead  of  flattering  my 
pride,  it  excites  in  me  fears  that  I  shall  not  suitably 
perform  its  duties,  and  sustain  the  rank  my  country 
has  assigned  to  me.  On  the  whole,  I  have  accepted 
the  appointment  with  pleasure  on  some  accounts,  but, 
at  the  same  time,  with  apprehension  and  regret." 
Mr.  Webster,  about  three  months  before  his  death, 
informed  me  that  he  was  at  Concord  at  the  time  of 
this  election,  and  well  remembered  the  opinions 
expressed  by  the  leading  men  there;  that  the  new 
senator  was  by  all  odds  the  ablest  man  in  the  Fed 
eral  party;  that  it  was  thought  a  great  object  to 
have  secured  his  election,  though  it  was  doubted 
whether  he  would  accept ;  that  his  superiority  was 
acknowledged  even  by  those  who  disliked  him  on 
account  of  some  favorite  measure  of  theirs  which  he 
had  defeated;  that  the  opposition  nominated  Nicholas 
Oilman,  who,  though  not  an  avowed  Republican,  was 
less  Federal  than  his  brother,  the  Governor ;  but  that 


148  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

Mr.  Plumer  was  elected  on  the  first  trial  by  a  strong- 
vote  in  both  Houses. 

Before  proceeding  to  the  scene  of  his  service  in 
the  Senate,  some  account  should  be  given  of  his 
professional  life,  during  the  fifteen  years  which  had 
elapsed  since  his  admission  to  the  bar.  This  will 
form  the  subject  of  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER     V. 

THE   LAWYER. 

[  MB.  PLUMER  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1787.  The 
state  of  the  law  was,  at  that  time,  very  different  from 
what  it  afterwards  became.  Under  the  colonial  gov 
ernment,  causes  of  importance  were  carried  up,  for 
decision  in  the  last  resort,  to  the  governor  and 
council,  with  the  right,  in  certain  cases — a  right  sel 
dom  claimed — of  appeal  to  the  king  in  council.  As 
the  executive  functionaries  were  not  generally  law 
yers,  and  the  titular  judges  were  often  from  other 
professions  than  the  legal,  they  were  not  much  influ 
enced  in  their  decisions  by  any  known  principles  of 
established  law.  So  much,  indeed,  was  the  result 
supposed  to  depend  upon  the  favor  or  aversion  of 
the  court,  that  presents  from  suitors  to  the  judges 
were  not  uncommon,  nor,  perhaps,  unexpected.  On 
one  occasion,  the  chief  justice,  who  was  also  a  mem 
ber  of  the  council,  is  said  to  have  inquired,  rather 
impatiently,  of  his  servant,  what  cattle  those  were 
that  had  waked  him  so  unseasonably  in  the  morning 
by  their  lowing  under  his  window ;  and  to  have  been 
somewhat  mollified  by  the  answer  that  they  were  a 


150  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK. 

* 

yoke  of  six-feet  cajbtle,  which  Col. had  sent  as  a 

present  to  His  Honor.  "Has  he?"  said  the  judge  ; 
"I  must  look  into  his  case, — it  has  been  in  court 
long  enough."  Under  date  of  June  24,  1771,  John 
Adams  says,  "  Mr.  Lowell,  who  practised  much  in 
New  Hampshire,  gave  me  an  account  of  many  strange 
judgments  of  the  Superior  Court  at  Portsmouth." 
He,  however,  here  refers  to  erroneous,  not  to  dis 
honest,  opinions  of  the  court, — erroneous,  if  judged 
by  the  principles  of  the  English  common  law ;  but, 
forming,  probably,  a  part  of  that  system  of  local  law 
to  which  the  circumstances  of  the  country  and  the 
genius  of  the  people  had  given  birth,  and  which  had 

become  binding  by  the  gradual  process  of  judicial 

, — i 
decision,  in  the  absence  of  statutory  provisions,  j 

\_The  revolution  brought  with  it  new  meri^but  no 
increase,  in  the  first  instance,  of  judicial  science. 
From  1776  to  1782,  Meshech  Ware,  who  had  studied 
theology,  but  did  not  preach,  was  chief  justice  of  the 
state.  His  associates  were  Matthew  Thornton,  a  phy 
sician,  and  John  Wentworth,  of  Somersworth,  who, 
though  a  lawyer,  was  not  distinguished  in  the  profes 
sion.  Nathaniel  Peabody  and  Jonathan  Blanchard 
discharged,  each  during  a  part  of  the  same  period, 
the  duties  of  attorney  general,  "  in  a  manner  satis 
factory,"  we  are  told, "  to  the  government,  and  advan 
tageous  to  the  people,"  though  they  were  neither  of 
them  lawyers.  From  1782  to  1790,  Samuel  Liver- 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  151 

more  was  chief  justice  ;  but,  though  bred  to  the  law, 
he  was  not  inclined  to  attach  much  importance  to 
precedents,  or  to  any  merely  systematic  or  technical 
rules  of  procedure.  In  a  manuscript  report,  which  I 
have,  of  one  of  his  charges,  I  find  him  cautioning  the 
jury  against  "paying  too  much  attention  to  the 
niceties  of  the  law,  to  the  prejudice  of  justice,"  —  a 
caution  of  which  juries  do  not  ordinarily  stand  much 
in  need.  He  was  himself  governed  little  by  prece 
dents.  When  once  reminded  of  his  own  previous 
decision,  in  a  similar  case,  he  made  no  attempt  to 
reconcile  it  with  his  present  ruling;  but  dismissed  at 
once  the  objection, with  the  familiar  proverb,  "Every 
tub  must  stand  on  its  own  bottom."  If  he  paid  little 
attention  to  the  decisions  of  his  own  court,  he  was 
not  likely  to  defer  much  to  those  of  other  tribunals. 
The  question  was  once  argued  before  him  as  to 
the  authority  of  the  English  law  reports;  and  he  then 
decided  that  those  of  a  date  prior  to  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  might  be  cited  here,  not  as  author 
ities,  but  as  enlightening  by  their  reasonings  the 
judgment  of  the  court;  but  that  with  those  of  a  later 
date  we  had  absolutely  nothing  to  do.  The  salary  of 
the  chief  justice  at  this  time  was  six  hundred  dollars. 
Livermore  was  succeeded  as  chief  justice  by  Josiah 
Bartlett,  a  physician.  Of  him  we  are  told,  that  "when 
the  law  was  with  the  plaintiff,  and  equity  seemed  to 
him  to  be  on  the  other  side,  he  was  sure  to  pronounce 


152  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

in  favor  of  the  latter."  The  object  of  the  law  being 
in  all  cases  to  do  justice,  as  between  the  parties,  that 
must,  he  said,  be  law  which,  in  any  given  case,  con 
duced  to  this  end.  It  was,  at  any  rate,  better  to  be 
governed  by  a  right  principle,  than  by  a  wrong 
decision.  The  next  chief  justice,  from  1790  to  1795, 
was  John  Pickering,  who  was  a  well-read  lawyer.  His 
successors  have  all  been  of  the  same  profession; 
though  one  of  them,  Simeon  Olcutt,  who  held  the 
office  from  1795  to  1801,  was  more  distinguished  for 
the  uprightness  of  his  intentions  than  for  his  knowl 
edge  of  law.  "In  his  office  of  judge,"  says  his 
biographer,  "he  manifested  less  regard  for  the  letter 
of  the  law  than  for  the  spirit  of  equity."  This  is  a 
mild  way  of  saying  what  was  often  true,  that  he  made 
the  law  to  suit  the  case.J 

/While  such  were  the  chief  justices,  it  may  well  be 
imagined  that  the  side  judges  were  not  lawyers. 
John  Dudley,  of  Raymond,  a  trader  and  farmer, 
was  judge  from  1785  to  1797,  Woodbury  Langdon, 
a  merchant  of  Portsmouth,  at  different  periods,  from 
1782  to  1791,  and  Timothy  Farrar,  of  New  Ipswich, 
originally  designed  for  the  pulpit,  from  1791  to  1803. 
Farrar  had  been  appointed  to  the  Common  Pleas 
during  the  revolution,  on  which  he  procured  a  copy 
of  Blackstone's  commentaries,  which  he  read,  he  said, 
"with  more  avidity  than  any  girl  ever  read  a  novel." 
These  judges  were  men  of  strong  powers  of  mind,  of 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  153 

large  acquaintance  with  business,  and  superior  in 
talents  and  information  generally  to  the  second-rate 
lawyers,  who,  with  the  salaries  then  given  to  the 
judges,  could  alone  have  been  induced  to  take  seats 
on  the  bench.  "  There  are  now,"  said  Judge  Smith, 
writing  under  date  of  April,  1796,  "two  lawyers  on 
the  bench ;  but  I  think  they  are  by  no  means  the 
two  best  of  the  four.  Farrar  and  Dudley,  in  my 
judgment,  greatly  overmatch  them."  j 

The  half-learning  of  an  ill-read  lawyer  of  ordinary 
capacity  wras  indeed  no  match  for  the  keen  sagacity, 
long  experience,  and  strong  common  sense  of  such  a 
judge  as  Dudley.  This  extraordinary  man,  who  was 
for  twelve  years  judge  of  the  Superior  Court,  had  not 
only  no  legal  education,  but  little  learning  of  any 
kind.  But  he  had  a  discriminating  mind,  a  retentive 
memory,  a  patience  which  no  labor  could  tire,  an 
integrity  proof  alike  against  threats  and  flattery,  and 
a  free  elocution,  rude  indeed,  and  often  uncouth,  but 

bold,  clear  and  expressive,  with  a  warmth  of  honest 

/— —— > 

feeling  which  it  was  not  easy  to  resist.  (His  ideas  of 
law  may  be  inferred  from  the  conclusion  of  one  of  his 
charges  to  the  jury,  which  I  once  heard  my  father 
repeat.  It  was  somewhat  in  this  style:  "You  have 
heard,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  \vhat  has  been  said  in 
this  case  by  the  lawyers,  the  rascals!  but  no,  I  will 
not  abuse  them.  It  is  their  business  to  made  a  good 
case  for  their  clients ;  they  are  paid  for  it  •  and  they 


154  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

have  done  in  this  case  well  enough.  But  you  and  I, 
gentlemen,  have  something  else  to  consider.  They 
talk  of  law.  Why,  gentlemen,  it  is  not  law  that  we 
want,  but  justice.  They  would  govern  us  by  the 
common  law  of  England.  Trust  me,  gentlemen,  com 
mon  sense  is  a  much  safer  guide  for  us, — the  common 
sense  of  Raymond,  Epping,  Exeter  and  the  other 
towns  which  have  sent  us  here  to  try  this  case 
between  two  of  our  neighbors.  A  clear  head  and 
an  honest  heart  are  worth  more  than  all  the  law  of 
all  the  lawyers.  There  was  one  good  thing  said  at 
the  bar.  It  was  from  one  Shakspeare,  an  English 
player,  I  believe.  No  matter.  It  is  good  enough 
almost  to  be  in  the  Bible.  It  is  this:  ' Be  just  and 
fear  not/  That,  gentlemen,  is  the  law  in  this  case, 
and  law  enough  in  any  case.  'Be  just  and  fear  not.' 
It  is  our  business  to  do  justice  between  the  parties, 
not  by  any  quirks  of  the  law  out  of  Coke  or  Black- 
stone,  books  that  I  never  read,  and  never  will,  but  by 
common  sense  and  common  honesty  as  between  man 
and  man.  That  is  our  business;  and  the  curse  of 
God  is  upon  us,  if  we  neglect,  or  evade,  or  turn  aside 
from  \i^/  And  now,  Mr.  Sheriff,  take  out  the  jury ; 
and  you,  Mr.  Foreman,  do  not  keep  us  waiting  with 
idle  talk,  of  which  there  has  been  too  much  already, 
about  matters  which  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
merits  of  the  case.  Give  us  an  honest  verdict,  of 
which,  as  plain,  common  sense  men,  you  need  not 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  155 

be  ashamed."  I  have  made  the  judge  speak  good 
English,  which  he  did  not  often  do.  "  This  'ere  plain 
tiff/'  and  "that  "are  defendant/'  "them  lawyers,"  and 
"these  "ere  witnesses,"  were  expressions  that  fell 
often  from  his  lips ;  yet,  it  was  observed  that,  when 
warmed  by  his  subject,  his  language,  always  forcible, 
became  suddenly  accurate  and  even  elegant,  so 
naturally  is  correctness^  as  well  as  eloquence,  the 
result  of  clear  thought  and  earnest  feeling.  It  will 
not  excite  surprise  that  such  a  judge  carried  the  jury 
with  him.  Indeed,  when  fairly  under  way,  there  was 
no  stopping  him.  He  trampled  down  and  ran  over 
everything  that  stood  before  him,  and  came  out 
always  first  at  the  goal.  He  had  been,  from  1776  to 
1784,  during  the  wrhole  period  of  the  revolution,  one 
of  the  committee  of  safety,  the  most  efficient  member 
of  that  most  efficient  of  governments.  Quick  to  feel 
and  prompt  to  act,  he  was  a  resolute,  strong-minded 
man,  intent  on  doing  substantial  justice  in  every  case, 
though  often  indifferent  to  the  forms  and  require 
ments  of  law.  "You  may  laugh,"  said  Theophilus 
Parsons,  who  practised  for  may  years  in  our  courts, 
"at  his  lawT,  and  ridicule  his  language ;  but  Dudley  is, 
after  all,  the  best  judge  I  ever  knew  in  New  Hamp 
shire."  To  have  received  this  praise  from  Judge 
Parsons,  Dudley  must  have  been,  on  the  whole,  not 
ignorant  of  law,  nor  inattentive  to  its  substantial 
requirements.  "  Justice,"  said  Arthur  Livermore, 


156  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

speaking  to  me  of  Dudley,  before  whom  lie  had  him 
self  practised,  "was  never  better  administered  in 
New  Hampshire,  than  when  the  judges  knew  very 
little  of  what  we  lawyers  call  law." 
yThe  scene  of  Dudley's  charge,  above  quoted,  was 
in  Rockingham  County.  An  incident  which  occurred 
in  Cheshire  County,  will  give  some  idea  of  the  prac 
tice  in  that  part  of  the  State.  At  a  court,  held  at 
Charlestown,  soon  after  Jeremiah  Mason  was  admit 
ted  to  the  bar,  he  put  in  a  plea  of  demurrer,  in  a 
case  in  which  Benjamin  West  was  employed  for  the 
plaintiff.  West,  who  was  the  oracle  of  the  law  in 
that  region,  told  the  court  that  he  did  not  know  much 
about  demurrers.  He  rather  doubted  whether  they 
formed  any  part  of  the  New  Hampshire  law;  at  any 
rate,  it  was  of  evil  example, — this  attempt  of  his 
brother  Mason,  to  introduce  so  unusual  a  mode  of 
procedure  here.  The  Chief  Justice  said,  a Demur 
rers  were,  no  doubt,,  an  invention  of  the  bar  to  pre 
vent  justice, — a  part  of  the  common  law  procedure, 
but  he  had  always  thought  them  a  cursed  cheat. 
They  had  not  been  much  used  in  our  courts."  Farrar 
said  "that  the  effect  of  a  demurrer,  if  he  understood 
it,  was  to  take  the  case  from  the  jury,  to  be  decided 
on  some  question  of  law  by  the  court."  "If  that  is 
so,"  said  Judge  Dudley,  "I  am  clean  against  it  as 
being  fatal  to  the  rights  of  the  jury."  "But,  your 
honor,"  said  Mr.  Mason,  "there  are,  in  this  case,  no 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  157 

facts  for  the  jury  to  find."  "So  much  the  better," 
said  Dudley,  "they  will  all  the  sooner  bring  in  their 
verdict,  if  the  facts  are  undisputed.  Let  me  advise 
you,  young  man,"  he  added,  "not  to  come  here  with 
your  new-fangled  law;  and  above  all,  not  to  suppose 
that  you  know  how  to  conduct  a  suit  better  than  Mr. 
West.  You  must  try  your  cases  as  others  do,  by  the 
court  and  jury."  The  question  had,  by  this  time, 
become  so  intricate  that  the  court  continued  it  for 
advisement.  How  it  was  settled  at  the  next  term  is 
not  quite  certain.!  Daniel  Webster  told  me  that,  as 
he  heard  the  story,  the  question  on  the  demurrer, 
instead  of  being  decided  by  the  court,  was  put  to  the 
jury  for  trial.  Another  account  is  that  West,  now 
satisfied  that  his  declaration  was  bad,  moved  for 
leave  to  amend,  which  the  court  granted,  not  without 
wonder  that  a  man  of  such  established  reputation 
should  be  found  at  fault  by  this  young  man  from 
over  the  river.  In  telling  the  story  afterwards,  Mason 
used  to  add,  that,  though  he  suffered  at  the  time  from 
the  censure  of  the  court  for  his  presumption  in  intro 
ducing  new  practices,  and  pretending  to  know  more 
than  his  seniors,  his  success  in  this  case  gave  him 
confidence  in  himself;  and  that,  if  he  had  since 
acquired  reputation  as  a  lawyer,  it  was  not  a  little 
owing  to  this  trifling  incident  in  his  early  practice. 
If  the  non-professional  reader  should,  like  Judge 
Dudley,  inquire  the  meaning  of  a  demurrer,  he  may,. 


158  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK. 

perhaps,  be  satisfied  by  the  definition  given  of  it  by 
Judge  Harrington,  of  Vermont,  another  common- 
sense,  but  most  unlearned,  judge.  "A  demurrer," 
said  Harrington,  "why,  a  demurrer,  if  I  understand 
It,  is  where,  one  party  having  told  his  story,  the  other 
party  says,  what  then?" 

\  The  custom  at  this  time  was  for  all  the  judges 
present  to  charge  the  jury,  at  least  in  all  important 
cases ;  and  there  was  often  as  much  difference  in  the 
law,  as  expounded  from  the  bench,  as  there  had  been 
contradiction  in  the  testimony  on  the  stand,  or  in  the 
inferences  drawn  from  it  by  counsel  at  the  bar.  The 
result  was  that  the  verdict  was  an  expression  of  the 
passions  or  the  prejudices  of  the  jury,  and  their  good 
>or  ill  will  towards  the  parties  litigant,  quite  as  often 
as  the  application  of  any  known  rules  of  law  to  the 
case  in  hand.  It  was,  perhaps,  still  oftener  secured 
by  the  superior  skill,  talent  or  adroitness  of  the 
attorney  employed  by  the  winning  party.  Yet  such 
justice  was  not  unacceptable  to  the  people,  who  re 
garded  good  sense  and  upright  intentions  as  of  more 
importance  than  mere  book-learning,  which  might 
be  possessed  by  men  ignorant  of  human  nature  and 
unacquainted  with  the  business  of  life.  As,  however, 
the  science  of  jurisprudence  came  to  be  more 
regarded,  and  precedent  and  authority  took  the 
place  of  vague  notions  of  right  and  equity,  these 
.unprofessional  judges  were  found  unequal  to  their 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  159 

places.  Richard  Evans,  appointed  in  1809,  and 
removed  in  1813,  was  the  last  judge,  not  a  lawyer, 
who  sat  on  the  bench  of  the  Superior  Court.  This 
practice  of  making  judges  of  men  who  were  not  law 
yers  was  general  in  New  England]  It  has  been  stated, 
I  know  not  upon  what  authority,  that  Paul  Dudley 
was  the  first  person,  regularly  bred  to  the  law,  who 
ever  sat  on  the  bench  in  Massachusetts.  He  was 
appointed  in  1718,  eighty-eight  years  after  the  first 
settlement  of  Boston. 

fWhen  my  father  came  to  the  bar,  though  the  law 
yers  of  the  whole  State  did  not  exceed  thirty  in 
number,  (I  find  in  the  Register  of  1788  the  names  of 
twenty-nine  lawyers,)  many  of  them  were  able  and 
distinguished  men.  The  most  prominent  in  Rocking- 
ham  and  Strafford  Counties,  where  he  chiefly  prac 
tised,  were  John  Pickering,  afterwards  Chief  Justice 
and  Judge  of  the  District  Court;  John  Sullivan, 
Major-General  in  the  army  of  the  revolution,  Attor 
ney-General,  President  of  the  State  and  District 
Judge ;  John  Prentice,  Speaker  of  the  House  and 
Attorney-General;  John  S.  Sherburne,  member  of 
Congress  and  District  Judge ;  William  K.  Atkinson, 
Attorney-General  and  Judge  of  Probate;  Jonathan 
M.  Sewall,  the  poet;  William  Parker,  Register,  and,  I 
think,  Judge  of  Probate;  Oliver  Peabody,  Treasurer, 
Sheriff,  Judge  of  Probate  and  Judge  of  the  Common 
Pleas;  and  Daniel  Humphries,  preacher,  poet,  gram- 


160  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

mariaii  and  District-Attorney.  Edward  St.  Loe 
Livermore  and  Arthur  Livermore,  both  of  them 
afterwards  Judges  of  the  Superior  Court,  became 
somewhat  later  members  of  the  Rockingham  bar,  the 
one  established  at  Portsmouth,  the  other  at  Chester. 
Joshua  Atherton,  who  was  Attorney-General  from 
1793  to  1801,  also  practised  in  our  courts.  Besides 
these,  there  were  some  distinguished  lawyers,  residents 
in  other  States,  who  practised  occasionally  here,  such 
as  Bradbury  of  Portland,  Dexter  of  Boston,  and 
Parsons  of  Newburyport.  \It  was  in  this  school  of 
jurists  and  politicians  that  the  character  of  the  young 
lawyer  was  first  formed,  and  his  powers  developed 
and  put  to  proof,  in  alternate  co-operation  and  contest 
with  these  leaders  and  sages  of  the  law.  Not  to  fall 
behind,  in  the  struggle  with  them,  was  no  mean  dis 
tinction;  to  surpass  the  ablest  of  them  was  what  he 
did  not  presume  to  hope. 

(  The  division  of  professional  labor,  which  prevails  in 
older  and  richer  States,  was  then  little  known  in  New 
Hampshire.  The  lawyer  was  supposed  to  be  familiar 
with  every  branch  of  his  profession,  as  attorney, 
counsellor,  conveyancer,  advocate,  and  to  be  equally 
expert  in  the  drafting  of  instruments,  in  instituting 
suits,  in  special  pleading,  and  in  advocating  cases 
before  the  court  and  jury.  Agents  out  of  court, 
of  whom  there  are  now  so  many,  whose  business  it  is 
to  procure  testimony,  and  bring  the  witnesses  on  to 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  161 

the  stand,  were  then  little  known.     The  lawyer  in 
immediate  contact  with   his  client,  who  was   often 
ignorant  of  what  he  wanted,  had  to  do  everything  of 
this  sort  himself;   to  prepare  the  testimony  out  of 
court,  to  examine  the  witnesses  in  court,  and  to  argue 
both  the  law  and  the  facts  to  the  judges  and  to  the 
jury.     All  this  was  to  be  done  by  one  person,  who 
had,  at  the  same  time,  a  multitude  of  other  cases  on 
hand ;  for  it  was  not  the  practice  to  employ  more 
than  one  lawyer  on  a  side,  except  occasionally  in 
important  cases.     The  promptness,  energy  and  decis 
ion,  the  learning,   the  labor,  and  the  versatility  of 
talent,  which  such  a   course   of  practice    required, 
tasked,  to   the   utmost,   the    powers    both  of  body 
and  mind  of  the  much-employed  and  over- worked 
lawyer.]  For  such  labor  my  father  was  prepared  by 
his  general  habits  of  order,  industry  and  persever 
ance  in  whatever  he  undertook.     Benjamin  Thomp 
son,  for  many  years  Clerk  of  the  Common  Pleas  in 
Strafford  County,  speaking  of  these  traits  of  his  char 
acter,  said  that  he  was  the  most  industrious  man  he 
had  ever  known  ;  that,  after  laboring  all  day  in  court, 
and,  at  night,  with  his  clients,  in  his  chamber,  till 
every  body  else  had  retired  to  rest,  he  would  turn 
with  fresh  alacrity  to  the  reading  of  any  new  book 
which  chanced  to  fall  in  his  way,  and  continue  at  his 
study,  unconscious  of  the  lapse  of  time,  till  the  burn 
ing  out  of  his  candle  reminded  him  of  his  need  of 


162  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEB. 

repose ;  that  he  would  be  up  again  early  in  the  morn 
ing,  bright  and  cheerful,  busy  with  his  clients,  prompt 
at  court,  attentive  to  whatever  was  said  or  done  there, 
and  ready  whenever  his  cases  were  called  for  trial. 
Business,  thus  assiduously  followed,  left  him  little 
time  that  he  could  call  his  own.  Besides  the  regular 
terms  of  the  court,  (six  in  each  county,  for  the  Com 
mon  Pleas  sat  four  times  a  year,)  there  were  Probate 
Courts,  references  and  arbitrations,  hearings  before 
commissioners,  the  taking  of  depositions,  and  justice 
trials,  which  carried  him  almost  daily  from  home.  It 
is  not,  therefore,  strange  that  with  his  fondness  for 
books,  he  came  to  read  on  horseback,  in  taverns, 
and,  when  from  home,  in  bed. 

To  meet  his  various  engagements,  often  required 
the  exertion  of  uncommon  activity  of  body  as  well  as 
of  mind.  No  external  circumstance  of  labor  or  incon 
venience  deterred  him.  Neither  wind  nor  rain,  heat 
nor  cold,  prevented  his  presence  at  the  appointed 
time  and  place,  or,  if  absent,  it  was  through  no  fault 
or  neglect  of  his.  Many  instances  of  his  accustomed 
punctuality,  and  of  the  celerity  of  his  movements 
might  be  mentioned.  One,  which  my  mother  used 
to  relate,  may  suffice.  While  attending  court  at 
Exeter,  he  had  engaged  to  meet  a  client  at  his  house, 
at  seven  o'clock,  one  warm  summer  evening.  The 
man  was  on  the  spot  at  the  time,  and,  as  the  clock 
struck  seven,  he  rallied  my  mother  on  her  husband's 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  163 

want  of  punctuality.  She  paused  a  moment,  and 
then  exclaimed,  "Hark,  I  hear  him  coming  now." 
They  hastened  to  the  door,  and  heard  the  clattering 
hoofs  of  his  powerful  black  horse  as  he  swept  over  the 
bridge  on  the  Exeter  road,  a  mile  from  where  they 
stood.  The  sounds  waxed  louder  as  they  listened ; 
and  in  a  moment,  he  dismounted  at  their  side ;  apolo 
gizing  for  being  late,  by  stating  that  the  inn-keeper 
had  neglected  to  bring  his  horse  to  the  court-house 
door  at  the  time  appointed.  He  had  ridden  nearly 
nine  miles  in  thirty-six  minutes ;  and  was  ready  to 
enter,  without  delay,  on  the  business  which  his  client 
had  wrell-nigh  forgotten  in  surprise  at  his  sudden 
appearance. 

An  instance  of  equal  activity,  in  the  depth  of 
winter,  he  used  himself  to  relate.  It  was  a  Monday 
forenoon,  in  the  winter  term  of  the  Superior  Court 
at  Dover.  There  had  been  a  heavy  snow  storm,  and 
the  weather  was  cold  and  boisterous.  On  the  opening 
of  the  court,  Mr.  Atkinson  moved  a  postponement  of 
one  of  his  causes,  on  the  ground  that  his  client  could 
not  attend  in  this  inclement  weather.  Judge  Olcott, 
who  listened  to  him  with  some  impatience,  at  length 
exclaimed,  "  Stop,  Mr.  Atkinson,  here  is  our  brother 
Plumer  coming  into  court,  after  having  travelled 
eighteen  or  twenty  miles  this  morning  in  the  storm ; 
and  your  client,  who  lives  within  two  miles  of  the 
court-house,  cannot  venture  out.  Crier,  call  the 


164  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEE. 

plaintiff."  As  my  father  entered  the  bar,  flushed 
with  the  cold,  and  shaking  the  snow  from  his  locks, 
Atkinson  resumed  his  seat,  and  his  client  was 
defaulted.  My  father  good-naturedly  moved  the 
court  to  take  off  the  default ;  saying,  that  though  he 
had  come  from  Epping  that  morning,  as  indeed  he 
was  bound  to  do,  the  weather  was  really  very  rough, 
and  hardly  fit  to  be  out  in.  "  Well,  well,"  said  the 
Judge,  "we  know  that  you  are  no  rule,  Mr.  Plume r, 
for  others  in  such  cases ;  so  brother  Atkinson  may 
have  till  to-morrow  to  bring  in  his  witnesses.  The 
clerk  will  take  off  the  default." 

Punctuality  was  with  him  not  only  a  habit,  but 
a  duty;  and  while  making  large  allowance  for  the 
want  of  it  in  others,  he  never  subjected  those  with 
whom  he  had  business  to  the  evils  or  the  vexa 
tions  of  unnecessary  delay.  Railroads  were  then 
unknown,  stages  not  in  use  where  he  had  to  travel, 
and  the  common  roads  were  often  well-nigh  impass 
able.  Many  were  the  journeys  which  he  performed, 
through  forests,  by  short  cuts  and  bridle  paths,  which 
led  through  quagmires  and  over  log-bridges,  where 
mere  skill  seemed  inadequate,  without  that  good  luck 
which  the  skilful  seldom  want,  to  escape  from  foun 
dering  in  the  mud  or  falling  into  the  stream.  On 
one  such  occasion,  in  returning  from  the  court  at 
Rochester,  through  an  extensive  oak  forest  in  Rar- 
rington,  he  fell  from  his  horse  in^  a  fit  of  vertigo,  to 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  165 

which  he  was  occasionally  liable,  and  on  coming  to 
himself,  he  found  his  horse  standing  by  him,  with  a 
huge  black  snake  at  his  side;  the  horse  watching  the 
motions  of  the  reptile,  which  had  probably  been 
attracted  by  the  sight  of  a  man  lying  apparently  dead 
on  the  ground.  He  mounted  his  horse  with  some  diffi 
culty,  and  soon  reached  the  hospitable  mansion  of  his 
friend,  Judge  Hale,  where  he  passed  the  night.  Such 
adventures  are  not  unusual  in  new  countries ;  but, 
with  our  present  modes  of  travelling,  they  are  not 
likely  often  to  occur  to  New  Hampshire  lawyers. 

With  these  preliminary  statements  and  remarks, 
we  may  now  introduce  some  extracts  from  his  letters 
and  journals — arranged  in  the  order  of  their  dates — 
which  throw  light  on  this  portion  of  his  history. 
Under  date  of  1785  he  says:  "Inclination,  not  less 
than  the  state  of  my  finances,  has  made  me  adopt  a 
system  of  strict  economy,  both  of  time  and  money. 
I  studiously  avoid  all  expensive  and  unnecessary 
company.  The  one  I  cannot  afford;  the  other 
encroaches  upon  time  which  I  can  better  employ." 
This  extract  well  describes  what  was,  at  this  period, 
his  usual  course  of  life.  Economical  in  his  mode  of 
living,  and  studious  in  his  habits,  he  sought  health  in 
change  of  occupation,  rather  than  in  relaxation -and 
amusement;  and  he  preferred,  in  the  intervals  of 
necessary  labor,  the  society  of  his  books  to  any 
living  companions  with  whom  he  could  then  asso- 


166  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

ciate.  These  unsocial  habits  wore  off,  as  business 
brought  him  into  connection  with  men,  often  his 
equals,  sometimes  his  superiors,  with  whom  he  felt 
that  conversation  was  not  that  loss  of  time  or 
dissipation  of  thought,  which  he  had  often  found 
it.  It  was  probably  this  excessive  devotion  to  study, 
with  little  exercise  and  no  amusement,  which  pro 
duced  the  frequent  illnesses,  of  which  he  complains 
in  his  letters  of  this  period.  In  July,  1786,  he  had 
a  severe  attack  of  the  bilious  colic,  which  threat 
ened,  for  a  time,  his  life.  "I  bore,"  he  says,  "the 
extreme  pain  with  fortitude,  and  the  apparent 
approach  of  death  did  not  alarm  me.  I  felt  troubled 
indeed  and  as  it  wrere  disappointed;  for  I  seemed 
to  myself  not  to  have  done  what  I  was  sent  into  the 
world  to  do,  and  thence  there  arose,  even  at  the 
worst,  a  feeling  that  I  should  recover,  and  go  about 
my  work  again." 

In  a  letter  to  his  former  fellow-student,  William 
Coleman,  under  date  of  May  31st,  1786,  he  says, 
"  The  aspect  of  public  affairs  in  this  state  is  gloomy. 
Money  is  scarce ;  business  dull,  and  our  feeble  gov 
ernment  is  unhinged.  Yet,  even  in  these  degenerate 
days,  our  courts  of  law  are  firm,  and  dare  to  be  honest. 
If  our  elective  government  is  to  be  long  supported,  it 
will  owe  its  existence  merely  to  the  wisdom  and  the 
independence  of  the  judiciary."  The  high  value 
thus  attached  to  an  independent  judiciary  marks 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER.  167 

the  conservative  character  of  his  mind  at  this  time. 
The  weakness  of  the  state  authorities,  and  the  dis 
contents  of  the  people,  ending  soon  after  in  open 
insurrection,  made  him  anxious  for  a  strong  general 
government,  and  gave  him  what  were  afterwards 
called  high  Federal  notions  on  this  subject.  "  The 
people,"  he  said,  "  mean  well,  and  will  do  right  if 
they  are  not  misled;  but  I  doubt  their  ability  to 
resist  the  arts  of  demagogues,  and  I  fear  that  wis 
dom  will  too  often  come  to  us  in  the  unwelcome 
form  of  bitter  experience;  in  other  words,  in  the 
shape  of  evils  felt  and  not  avoided." 

He  entered  upon  his  profession  with  a  high  sense 
of  its  importance,  and  a  fixed  determination  to  dis 
charge  faithfully  all  its  duties.  /Writing  to  a  friend 
soon  after  his  admission  to  the  bar,  he  says  : — 

"  The  lawyer's  oath  contains  nothing  which  I  do  not  intend 
religiously  to  observe.  It  is  in  substance,  that  I  will  do  no 
injustice,  nor  consent  to  any ;  will  not  institute  or  aid  any 
false  or  unlawful  suit ;  nor  delay  any  man  for  lucre  or  malice  ; 
but  will  conduct  in  all  respects  according  to  my  best  knowl 
edge,  with  all  fidelity  to  the  court  and  to  my  client.  This  is 
promising  much,  but  not  more  than  I  intend  to  do.  It  shows 
that  its  authors  placed  high  the  standard  of  professional  duty. 
How  different  from  the  base  idea,  common  among  us,  that  it 
is  the  lawyer's  business  to  circumvent  and  overreach,  to  natter 
and  deceive  both  court  and  jury  for  the  benefit  of  his  client ; 
and  above  all  to  stir  up  suits,  and  promote  litigation,  that  he 


168  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

may  thereby  make  money  for  himself!  Does  this  popular 
notion  represent  truly  the  character  of  our  lawyers  ?  If  so, 
God  forbid  that  I  should  be  one  of  them.  I  have  already  left 
one  profession  because,,  with  my  views,  I  could  not  honestly 
remain  in  it ;  and  I  will  not  submit  to  defilement  in  any  other. 
But  it  is  not  necessary.  I  To  meet  adequately  the  requirements 
of  his  vocation,  the  lawyer  must  have  the  virtues,  as  well  as 
the  talents,  which  go  to  make  the  wise  and  perfect  man.  It 
shall  be  my  study  then  to  press  forward  towards  the  mark,  for 
the  jwize  of  this  high  calling,  however  far  I  may  fall  below  it." 

In  the  winter  of  1787-8,  he  methodized  and  trans 
cribed  into  a  book,  with  an  alphabetical  arrangement, 
his  legal  notes  and  extracts;  which  he  afterwards 
enlarged,  and  from  time  to  time  corrected,  as  his 
knowledge  increased,  till  the  whole  formed  a  very  tol 
erable  outline  of  law  and  practice, — a  vade  mecum, 
which  he  carried  with  him  to  court,  and  often  found 
useful  as  an  epitome  of  principles,  and  an  index  to 
authorities.  There  were,  at  this  time,  no  reports  of 
judicial  decisions,  published  by  authority,  in  any  of 
the  states.  Of  such  decisions  only  eight  volumes,  so 
far  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain,  were  printed  before 
1802,  when  he  ceased  regularly  to  attend  the  courts. 
Five  hundred  such  volumes,  perhaps  a  thousand,  now 
offer  the  rich  treasure  of  their  abundant  learning 
and  research  to  the  labor,  if  I  may  not  rather  say,  to 
the  despair,  of  the  American  student.  He  also  about 
this  time  copied  from  the  manuscripts  of  Theophilus 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  169 

Parsons  brief  notes  of  cases  decided  in  Massachusetts, 
and  added  to  them,  from  time  to  time,  others  decided 
in  our  own  courts.  This  practice  of  reporting  cases 
he  continued  for  some  years ;  but,  as  his  business  in 
creased,  he  lacked  the  time,  or  perhaps  the  patience, 
necessary  to  continue  these  reports, 
f  Under  date  of  1788,  he  writes,  "My  practice  as  a 
lawyer  increases.  My  habit,  early  formed,  of  not 
deferring  till  to-morrow  what  can  be  done  to-day, 
renders  business  easy  to  me.  I  manage  my  client's 
case  as  if  it  were  my  own,  never  consenting  to  con 
tinuances  for  the  sake  of  augmenting  costs;  but 
obtaining  judgments  as  soon  as  I  can.  When  money 
collected  is  once  in  my  hands,  no  man  has  to  call  for 
it  a  second  time.  This,  you  may  say,  is  a  matter  of 
course.  Not  so.  When  money  is  wrorth  ten  or 
twelve  per  cent,  it  is  often  harder  to  get  it  from  the 
attorney  than  it  wras  from  the  original  debtor.  As  to 
my  fees,  they  are  moderate,  never  exceeding  the 
lowest  charges  for  the  same  services  by  others."~j 

In  1789,  he  was  admitted  to  practice  at  the  Supe 
rior  Court.  Before  this,  his  friend  Parsons  had  taken 
care  of  his  cases,  when  carried  up  from  the  Common 
Pleas.  From  this  time  his  business  gradually,  but 
steadily  increased.  He  was  now  evidently  a  grow 
ing  man,  and  he  had  none  of  the  impatience  which 
makes  so  many  uneasy  that  they  do  not  grow- 
faster.  It  was,  the  next  year,  proposed  to  make 


170  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

him  Judge  of  Probate  for  Rockingham  county.  In 
a  letter  to  his  friend  Smith,  July  6,  1790,  he  says, 
"I  once  thought  I  should  be  glad  of  this  office. 
When  contemplated  at  a  distance,  it  pleased  me; 
but,  on  a  closer  examination,  I  dislike  it.  My  ambi 
tion  soars  higher.  There  are  but  few  offices  I 
wish  to  hold,  and  these  I  cannot,  at  present,  obtain." 
His  business  had,  by  this  time,  become  so  considera 
ble  that  we  find  him  complaining  that  it  left  him 
"  little  time  for  reading  anything  but  law,  and  not 
enough  even  of  that." 

("Under  the  colonial  government  an  appeal  was 
allowed  from  the  ordinary  tribunals,  in  certain  cases, 
to  the  governor  and  council.  During  the  revolution, 
the  same  practice  of  going  beyond  the  courts  of  law 
for  redress  was  continued ;  and  the  form  which  it  took, 
under  the  constitution  of  1784,  was  that  of  a  special 
act  of  the  Legislature,  "restoring  the  party  to  his 
law,"  as  it  was  called,  that  is,  giving  him  a  new  trial 
in  the  Superior  Court,  after  his  case  had  come  to  its 
final  decision  in  the  ordinary  course  of  law.  Against 
such  an  act,  in  favor  of  a  person  to  whom  it  was  thus 
attempted  to  give  a  new  trial,  in  the  case  Me  Clary 
vs.  Oilman^  my  father  contended  that  the  law  was 
unconstitutional,  and  therefore  void,  on  the  ground, 
that,  if  it  reversed  the  former  judgment,  it  was  repug 
nant  to  the  bill  of  rights,  and  the  constitution  of  the 
state ;  and  that,  if  it  did  not  reverse  it,  the  court 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  171 

could  not  render  another  judgment  in  the  same  case, 
while  the  first  remained  in  force.  At  the  Septem 
ber  term,  1791,  (Pickering,  Chief  Justice ;  Dudley, 
Olcott  and  Farrar,  Justices,)  the  court  sustained  the 
objection,  dismissed  the  action,  and  ordered  execu 
tion  on  the  former  judgment.  This,  though  not  the 
first,  was  by  far  the  most  important  instance  in  which 
the  court  had  pronounced  a  law  of  the  state  uncon 
stitutional.  It  was  the  exercise  of  a  high  and 
delicate  act  of  power,  which  struck,  in  this  case,  at  a 
long  established  and  cherished  usage.  The  supposed 
interest  of  lawyers  in  the  multiplication  of  suits,  the 
litigious  spirit  of  parties,  ever  eager  to  grasp  at  new 
chances  of  success,  and  the  love  of  power,  natural 
to  legislative  bodies,  all  combined  to  render  this 
irregularity  in  the  administration  of  justice  not  unac 
ceptable  to  the  public.  But  though  it  required  some 
courage  in  the  attorney  to  take  the  exception,  and 
more,  perhaps,  in  the  court  to  sustain  it,  the  good 
sense  of  the  people  acquiesced  in  the  decision.  Some 
clamor  was  indeed  made  against  the  judges,  as  put 
ting  themselves  above  the  Legislature ;  and  attempts 
were  made  at  subsequent  sessions,  generally  without 
success,  by  disappointed  litigants  to  get  laws  passed 
granting  them  new  trialsj  In  1817,  such  a  law  was 
passed;  but  the  Superior  Court,  in  an  elaborate 
opinion,  pronounced  it  unconstitutional.  No  attempt 
has  been  since  made  to  reverse  this  decision.  The 


172  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

true  interests  of  the  public  were  greatly  promoted  by 
this  decision  of  1791;  and  the  law  itself  made,  on 
that  occasion,  an  important  step  in  the  progressive 
improvement,  which,  for  the  good  of  all  parties,  it  so 
much  needed.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  by 
what  arguments  this  decision  was  advocated  at  the 
bar,  and  sustained  on  the  bench.  But  beyond  the 
brief  notice  of  it  among  my  father's  papers,  I  am  not 
aware  that  any  report  of  the  case  is  to  be  found. 

Other  points  of  law,  more  or  less  important, 
which  were  first  decided  by  our  courts  on  his  motion, 
might  be  here  stated ;  but  some  of  them  were  tech 
nical  merely,  or  without  general  interest ;  and  others 
I  could  state  only  from  memory,  without  reference  to 
time  or  place,  or  the  names  of  the  parties,  and  might, 
perhaps,  give  them  incorrectly.  His  share  in  settling 
such  cases,  during  the  fifteen  years  of  his  active 
practice,  was  not  inconsiderable.  From  1797,  Smith 
and  Mason  brought  largely  the  weight  of  their  learn 
ing  and  their  talents  into  the  same  worthy  service. 
When  five  years  later,  Smith  was  advanced  to  the 
bench,  he  gave  the  authority  of  judicial  decisions  to 
opinions  elaborated  at  the  bar,  by  minds  equal,  and 
in  some  cases,  superior  to  his  own;  while  Mason, 
during  the  forty  years  of  his  practice  in  the  New 
Hampshire  courts,  brought  to  the  development  of 
legal  principles,  and  the  defining  of  judicial  practice, 
the  resources  of  a  mind  never  surpassed,  and  equalled 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  173 

only,  and,  in  its  law  merely,  not  equalled,  by  the  pre 
ponderating  intellect  of  Webster;  Avho,  a  few  years 
later,  gave  the  full  force  of  his  youthful  zeal  and  vigor 
to  the  same  generous  and  ennobling  tasks.  Their 
united  labors,  aided  by  many  other  able  lawyers — able 
but  inferior  to  these — gave  to  New  Hampshire  a  body 
of  judicial  decisions,  of  which,  as  well  as  of  the  judges 
by  whom  they  were  pronounced,  she  may  be  justly 
proud.  Under  their  influence  the  law  worked  its 
way  gradually  out  of  the  uncertainty  and  confusion, 
— I  wish  I  could  say  out  of  the  procrastination  and 
delay, — in  which  I  have  described  it  as  involved  at 
an  earlier  period.  The  date  at  which  we  have  arrived, 
was,  however,  but  the  commencement  of  this  great 
reform.  We  proceed  with  our  extracts. 

The  state  of  my  father's  health  at  this  time, 
(February,  1792,)  compelled  him  to  abandon  all 
business  which  he  could  well  avoid.  At  the  Supe 
rior  Court  at  Portsmouth,  "I  was,"  he  says,  "too  sick 
to  transact  business ;  and  found  it  difficult  to  return 
home  to  my  family.  In  this  low  state  I  remained  for 
several  weeks.  The  General  Court,  the  courts  of  law, 
and  the  Convention,  coming  so  close  upon  each  other, 
were  too  much  for  me."  Under  date  of  February  5, 
1793,  he  says,  "I  am  here  attending  the  Common 
Pleas;  and  have  more  business  than  I  can  well 
despatch.  It  increases  upon  me  daily."  Towards  the 
end  of  the  year,  he  says,  "I  attended  the  Legislature 


174  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK. 

several  days,  during  each  of  their  sessions,  and  advo 
cated  more  cases  before  them  than  any  other  lawyer." 
Though  the  practice  of  restoring  men  to  their  law,  by 
acts  of  special  legislation,  no  longer  prevailed,  public 
hearings,  either  before  large  committees,  or  before 
the  House,  and  sometimes  before  both  branches,  were 
still  not  uncommon.  The  subjects  thus  discussed, 
often  involved  questions  of  law,  politics  and  political 
economy,  forming  the  most  attractive  and  important 
business  of  the  session.  This  legislative  practice,  in 
which  he  was  largely  engaged,  kept  up  his  acquain 
tance  with  public  men,  and  gave  him  much  influence 
on  the  course  of  public  events,  even  when  he  held  no 
office.  In  1794,  he  says,  "Most  of  my  time  wras 
devoted  to  business.  I  attended  the  Legislature  only 
to  advocate  causes  that  were  depending  before  them." 
In  April,  1794,  he  writes:  "The  fatigues  of  court 
are  forgotten  when  in  the  company  of  that  incom 
parable  genius,  Theophilus  Parsons.  The  more  I  see 
and  know  of  this  great  lawyer,  the  more  I  esteem  and 
admire  him."  Parsons,  who  was  the  most  learned 
lawyer  of  his  time,  had  long  practised  in  our  courts. 
My  father  was  employed,  either  with,  or  against  him, 
in  many  of  his  cases.  When  on  the  same  side,  he 
usually  argued  the  facts  to  the  jury,  and  Parsons  the 
law  to  the  court.  Parsons  had  the  reputation  with 
juries  of  being  cunning,  of  knowing  too  much,  and 
therefore  not  to  be  trusted  by  them.  This  suspicion 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  175 

impaired  his  influence  with  the  jury ;  and  even  the 
court  admired  his  learning  and  his  ingenuity  more 
than  they  followed  his  law.  "  It  was  here,"  says  my 
father,  "that  I  formed  and  cultivated  an  acquaintance 
with  him,  and  received  from  him  more  useful  informa 
tion,  not  only  on  legal,  but  on  almost  all  other  subjects, 
than  from  any  other  man."  Of  the  "other  subjects" 
on  which  he  conversed  with  Parsons,  one  was  religion. 
With  both  of  them  morals  and  theology  were  favorite 
subjects  of  inquiry;  and  their  love  of  these  was 
equalled  only  by  their  devotion  to  the  law.  In  these 
respects  their  tastes  were  congenial;  and  their  pleas 
ure  in  such  discussions  was  mutual  and  long  con 
tinued.  Judge  Story  speaks  of  Parsons  as  a  "man 
who  belonged  not  to  a  generation,  but  to  a  century — 
the  greatest  lawyer  of  his  time."  My  father,  among 
other  reminiscences  of  him,  used  to  mention  an 
instance  of  his  extraordinary  strength  of  memory. 
He  had  argued,  at  a  previous  term,  a  case  in  the 
Circuit  Court,  at  Portsmouth,  without  obtaining  a 
verdict.  It  now  came  on  again  for  trial  in  his 
absence ;  and  the  counsel  for  the  defendant  was 
closing  his  argument,  when  Parsons  unexpectedly 
entered  the  court.  His  client  insisted  that  he  should 
address  the  jury  in  reply,  though  he  had  heard  no 
part  of  the  trial.  After  inquiring  of  his  colleague  as 
to  the  new  testimony  introduced,  and  finding  that  it 
was  immaterial,  he  rose,  and,  to  the  astonishment  of 


176  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

both  court  and  jury,  entered  at  once  into  all  the 
details  of  the  case ;  stated  minutely  the  testimony  on 
both  sides,  including  that  now  first  introduced ;  and, 
more  successful  than  before,  won  a  verdict  for  his 
client.  It  may  help  to  explain  his  power  of  recol 
lection  in  this  case,  without  lessening  our  surprise  at 
his  general  practice,  to  be  told  that,  in  jury  trials,  he 
took  no  notes  of  the  testimony,  and  that  his  recollec 
tion  was  so  accurate,  and  his  statements  from  it  so 
impartial,  as  to  b.e  often  appealed  to,  even  by  the 
opposing  counsel.  In  questions  of  law,  he  would  refer 
to  book,  chapter  and  section;  and  would  quote  from 
memory  passages  so  apposite  to  the  case  in  hand,  that 
his  opponents  were  sometimes  tempted  to  suspect  that 
he  made  the  law,  which  he  pretended  to  recite.  The 
book,  however,  when  consulted,  showed  that  he  had 
drawn  on  his  memory,  and  not  on  his  invention,  for 
citations  so  much  in  point.  "It  is  not  remembered," 
says  William  Sullivan,  "that  he  ever  used  a  brief; 
his  memory  was  his  brief,  and  the  best  one  a  lawyer , 
can  use." 

Under  date  of  1795,  I  find  only  this  entry  to 
transcribe.  "This  year,  like  the  last,  I  was  almost 
entirely  engaged  in  attending  my  professional  busi 
ness.  I  spent  no  portion  of  my  time  in  idleness ; 
none  in  the  pursuits  of  pleasure.  The  hours  not 
devoted  to  business  or  to  sleep,  were  occupied  in 
reading  and  studying,  principally  law,  history,  and 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK.  177 

politics."\\  February  4,  1796,  he  says,  "For  this  fort 
night  I  have  not  been  able  to  command  a  leisure 
moment  I  am  now  at  Portsmouth,  attending  the 
Common  Pleas,  quite  jaded  out  with  the  drudgery 
of  its  servile  business.  The  court  sat  late  this  eve 
ning.  It  is  now  twelve  o'clock,  and  my  exhausted 
spirits  require  the  aid  of  sleep."  March  25,  1796, 
he  says,  "The  Superior  Court  failed  to  sit  at  Dover 
for  want  of  a  quorum.  The  Chief  Justice,  consulting 
an  almanac,  instead  of  the  law,  to  know  when  his 
court  was  to  meet,  came  a  week  after  the  time.  This 
is  his  second  failure,  and  both  for  the  same  cause. 
You  may  believe  that  clients  complain  of  the  delay, 
lawyers  no  less  of  their  loss  of  fees ;  and  the  people, 
of  both  court  and  bar ;  though  I  do  not  well  see  how 
the  latter  is  to  blame  in  this  case."J  Under  date  of 
1797,  he  says,  "In  March  and  February,  I  attended 
the  Superior  Court,  two  weeks  at  Portsmouth,  and 
five  at  Dover,  in  succession.  At  both  these  courts  I 
was  constantly  engaged  at  the  bar,  during  the  two 
sessions  of  each  day ;  and  in  the  morning  from  light 
till  breakfast,  and  in  the  evening  till  twelve  o'clock 
at  night,  either  in  conversing  with  my  clients,  or  in 
preparing  their  cases  for  trial.  In  these  seven  weeks 
I  felt  no  fatigue ;  and  enjoyed  each  night  six  hours 
of  sound  repose.  But  the  very  evening  the  business 
closed,  exertion  being  no  longer  necessary,  my  mind 
relaxed ;  and  I  was  so  much  fatigued,  that  for  several 


178  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

successive  nights  I  was  unable  to  obtain  quiet  sleep." 
There  is  no  doubt  that  this  severe  labor,  and  these 
midnight  vigils  bore  hard  upon  his  health,  though  his 
spirits  never  failed,  nor  did  his  resolution  falter,  while 
there  was  occasion  for  exertion,  or  opportunity  for 
improvement. 

For  the  most  strenuous  exertions  there  was  now 
more  than  usual  opportunity  and  occasion.  [In  July 
of  this  year,  Jeremiah  Smith  came  to  reside  at 
Exeter,  where  George  Sullivan  was  already  in  the 
practice,  and  in  the  following  autumn,  Jeremiah 
Mason  removed  to  Portsmouth;  and  they  both 
entered  at  once  on  the  practice  of  law  in  this 
county.  Smith  was  five  months  younger  than  my 
father;  Mason  nearly  nine  years  younger.  They 
were  both  in  the  vigor  of  manhood,  and  the  pride 
of  conscious  power ;  Smith,  with  an  industry  which 
set  no  bounds  to  its  labors ;  and  Mason,  with  powers 
of  mind,  a  capacity  for  toil,  a  devotion  to  business, 
and  an  intenseness  of  purpose,  which  made  him  ulti 
mately  the  most  accomplished  common-law  lawyer, 
that  this  country  has  yet  produced.  If  to  Plainer, 
Smith,  Mason,  and  Sullivan,  we  add  the  name  of 
Webster,  who  came  to  Portsmouth  a  few  years  later, 
it  will  readily  be  believed  that  the  Rockingham  bar 
was  well  denominated,  at  this  period  of  its  greatest 
strength,  "the  arena  of  giants.' '  I  It,  indeed,  often 
witnessed  the  strife  of  Titans;  weak  men  did  not 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  179 

mingle  in  it ;  strong  men  felt  the  need  of  all  their 
strength.  If,  to  change  the  comparison,  my  father, 
from  age  or  character,  was  the  Nestor  or  Ulysses  of 
this  assembly ;  Smith,  the  Menelaus,  with  a  touch  of 
the  Thersites  humor;  and  Mason,  the  Ajax  or  Aga 
memnon,  towering  head  and  shoulders  above  the  rest; 
the  youthful  vigor  of  Webster,  in  this  first  exhibition 
of  his  unrivalled  power,  "  the  flash  and  outbreak  of  a 
fiery  mind,"  stamped  itself  boldly  on  all  beholders, 
as  the  Achilles,  impiger,  imcundus,  inexoraUlis,  acer,  of 
the  scene.  To  strangers,  such  language  may  seem 
extravagant.  Perhaps  it  is  so.  But  one  who  wit 
nessed,  always  with  admiration,  sometimes  with  awe 
and  reverence,  the  encounters  of  these  extraordinary 
men,  cannot  speak  of  them  in  language  appropriate 
to  the  ordinary  ^routine  of  practice  in  an  obscure 
country  court.  /  Judge  Story,  who  occasionally  prac 
tised  before  our  "judges,  listened,  when  he  came 
afterwards  to  preside  here,  in  the  Circuit  Court, 
with  undissembled  admiration  and  delight,  to  what 
he  called  "the  vast  law  learning,  and  the  prodigious 
intellectual  power  of  the  New  Hampshire  bar."  1  That 
bar,  though  destined  to  lose  some  of  its  "Brightest 
ornaments,  was  not  without  its  strong  men,  (witness 
Woodbury  and  Bartlett,)  even  after  Plumer  and 
Smith  had  withdrawn  from  the  practice,  and  Mason 
and  Webster  had  gone  to  assume,  with  the  easy  confi 
dence  of  assured  success,  the  same  marked  superiority, 


180  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

in  the  metropolis  of  New  England,  which  they  had 
held  in  this  original  seat  of  their  power.  Neither 
Mason  nor  Webster  ever  forgot  their  early  associates; 
and  the  latter,  after  practising  in  the  first  courts  of 
the  Union,  told  Choate  that  "he  never  met  any  where 
else  abler  men  than  some  of  those  who  initiated 
him  in  the  rugged  discipline  of  the  New  Hampshire 
courts." 

\In  anticipation  of  Smith's  coming  to  Exeter,  my 
father  wrote  to  him,  under  date  of  January  12, 1797. 

11 1  am  glad  you  have  eventually  fixed  upon  Exeter  as  the 
place  of  your  permanent  residence.  I  now  calculate  upon 
having  a  real  friend  near  me ;  which  I  consider  a  prize  of 
inestimable  value.  I  am  sensible  you  will  take  numbers  of 
my  clients,  and  of  course  lessen  my  business.  I  am  perfectly 
willing  you  should.  It  has  been  for  some  time  my  fixed 
determination  to  relinquish  the  practice  of  law  within  four 
years  of  this  time.  If  no  misfortune  should  overtake  me,  the 
income  of  my  property  will,  by  that  time,  afford  me  and  my 
family  a  decent  support.  I  am  not  ambitious  of  acquiring  a 
fortune.  I  am  now  harassed  and  fatigued  with,  business,  in 
attending  courts  and  references,  and  taking  care  of  my  own 
private  affairs.  I  have  no  time  to  write  you,  except  what  I 
take  from  my  pillow." 

March  £3d,  1797.  "I  have  just  returned  from  Dover,  after 
seven  weeks  constant  attendance  on  the  court  in  two  counties. 
The  court  is  now  more  respectable  than  the  salaries  of  the 
judges  would  warrant  us  to  expect.  But  I  fear,  if  the  Legis- 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  181 

lature  do  not,  at  the  next  session,  raise  the  salaries,  the  judges 
will  resigruj  My  townsmen  in  my  absence  have  elected  me  a 
member  of  the  House.  I  hope  I  shall  have  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  you  in  the  second  week  of  our  session.  Previously  to 
my  election,  I  was  of  counsel,  in  some  public  hearings  assigned 
for  that  week.  I  shall  take  the  liberty  to  recommend  my 
clients  to  your  patronage." 

(Writing  to  William  Gordon,  (June  18,  1797,)  he 
says,  "  We  have  passed  a  vote,  73  to  62,  giving  the 
chief  justice  $850,  and  the  puisne  justices  $800  each. 
It  is  not  enough ;  but  is  as  much  as  we  can  obtain. 
I  am  for  giving  such  salaries  as  will  secure  the  right 
men,  not  a  cent  more,  nor  a  mill  less.  You  may  call 
such  salaries  high,  or  low;  I  call  them  adequate ;  that 
is,  sufficient  for  the  purpose  for  which  they  are  given. 
If  we  can  get  the  best  men,  (nothing  else  ought  to 
satisfy  us,)  for  the  old  salaries,  $500  a  year,  so  be  it; 
if  for  not  less  than  a  thousand  or  fifteen  hundred,  I 
would  give  the  larger  sum  just  as  freely  as  the 
smaller."  In  1792,  the  salary  of  the  chief  justice  was 
$600 ;  in  1797,  it  was  raised  to  $850,  and  in  1802,  to 
$1,000  per  annum.  His  letters  and  those  of  his  cor 
respondents  at  this  period,  are  full  of  complaints  on 
this  subject.  Lawyers  fit  for  the  office  were  unwilling 
to  leave  a  lucrative  practice  at  the  bar  for  a  seat, 
however  honorable,  on  the  bench;  while  the  latter 
was  so  inadequately  remunerated.  Early  the  next 
year,  two  vacancies  occurring  on~the  bench  of  the,- 


182  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLTJMER. 

Superior  Court,  Paine  Wingate  and 
were  appointed  to  fill  them.  Wingate  had  been 
senator  in  Congress,  and  was  by  profession  a  clergy 
man.  ,  though  a  lawyer,  did  not  hold  a  high 

rank  in  the  profession.  The  appointment  was  con 
sidered  an  unfortunate  one;  and  my  father  was 
selected  by  his  brethren  of  the  bar  to  tell  the  new 
judge  that  he  ought  not  to  accept  it.  This  ungra 
cious  task  he  performed  so  successfully  that  the 
judge  sent  back  his  commission  to  the  Governor,  and 
even  thanked  his  adviser  for  his  unwelcome  coun 
sel.  "  When  I  left  him,"  says  my  father,  "  he  seemed 
troubled,  but  not  offended;  mortified  at  the  truths 
I  had  told  him,  but  conscious  that  they  were  truths ; 
and  told  to  him,  though  plainly,  in  no  unfriendly 
temper."  In  reply  to  a  letter,  giving  an  account  of 
this  interview,  Arthur  Livermore,  afterwards  Chief 

Justice,  says,  "My  sentiments  respecting ,  accord 

perfectly  with  yours.  To  express  them  to  him  as 
forcibly  and  as  freely  as  you  did,  would  require  more 
courage,  I  fear,  than  I  possess."  He  adds,  in  a  strain 
quite  characteristic  of  the  man,  "What  few  of  us 
there  are  here,  (Holderness,)  are  perfectly  Federal, 
ready  to  sign  addresses,  pay  taxes,  fight  the  French, 
or  do  any  thing  else  that  is  clever."  Those  earnest 
old  men,  (young  men  then),  were  alternately  lawyers 
and  politicians ;  equally  zealous  in  the  one  case,  and 
active  in  the  other. 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER.  183 

To  William  Gordon,  he  writes,  (February  6,  1798,) 
"Late,  very  late,  last  night,  I  borrowed,  from  the 
sleepy  god,  time  to  write  thus  far.  I  am  now,  late  in 
the  evening,  at  my  lodgings  again,  relieved  from  my 
teasing  clients."  /To  the  same^( April  2d,)  "What  a 
court  we  have  to  judge  of  special  pleadings,  and 
decide  nice  and  abstruse  questions  of  law!  The  Chief 
Justice  is  incapable  of  close  reasoning.  Farrar  is  a 
better  judge,  but  is  not  a  lawyer.  Wingate,  who 
has  just  been  appointed,  has  talents  too;  but  a 
clergyman,  put  upon  the  bench  at  sixty,  is  too  old 
to  enter  with  success  on  a  new  career.  These  are 
your  eight  hundred  dollar  judges,  worth,  no  doubt, 
what  they  cost;  but  is  not  the  state  entitled  to  better 
men;  and  can  she  have  them  while  she  refuses  to 
pay  for  their  services  ?"  He  afterwards  wrote  "Win- 
gate  was  a  man  of  integrity,  of  a  strong  mind,  and 
a  retentive  memory,  but  ignorant  of  lawr.  In  trying 
causes,  he  looked  to  what  he  called  the  equity  of 
the  case;  not  what* the  law  calls  equity;  but  his 
own  individual  opinion  of  what  was  right  as  between 
the  parties  before  him.  The  court  and  jury  became, 
under  this  notion  of  equity,  not  a  legal  tribunal,  but 
a  board  of  arbitrators  who  made  the  law  for  the  case, 
rather  than  applied  to  it  a  law  already  made.  Their 
law  came,  in  the  phrase  of  Bacon,  from  their  own 
brains,  not  from  other  men's  books.  Yet,  it  cannot 
be  denied  that  Dudley,  Farrar,  and  Wingate  were,  on 


184  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

the  whole,  better  judges,  because  abler  men,  than 
Newcomb,  Olcott,  and  Claggett,  though  the  latter 
were  lawyers  by  profession."  "  Farrar,"  said  Judge 
Smith,  "is  more  of  a  lawyer  than  Olcott,  and  more 
of  a  judge  than  Newcomb."  Their  decisions  were 
often  just,  and  even  legal,  when  the  reasons  which 
they  gave  for  them  were  such  as  no  lawyer  could 
approve.  Content  to  dispose  of  the  cases  before 
them,  according  to  their  notions  of  right,  they  paid 
little  attention  to  the  decisions  of  former  judges ;  and 
were  as  little  anxious  to  furnish  precedents  which 
should  be  binding  on  their  successors.] 

"I  could  have  the  office  of  judge,"  writes  my 
father,  June  20th,  1798,  "if  I  would  accept  it;  but 
its  duties  are  too  laborious  for  my  feeble  constitution; 
and  the  salary  is  inadequate.  If  my  property  were 
sufficient,  no  situation  would  have  so  many  charms 
for  me  as  a  strictly  private  life,  in  which  1  could  have 
leisure  for  society,  and  time  for  study.  Business, 
pressing  day  and  night,  wears  upon  my  health,  and 
sometimes,  I  fear,  upon  my  temper."  He,  however, 
accepted,  about  this  time,  the  appointment  of  County 
Solicitor,  which,  being  in  the  line  of  his  profession, 
he  consented,  at  the  request  of  Governor  Gilman,  to 
hold  for  the  present,  with  an  understanding  that  he 
should  resign  it  when  he  pleased.  "I  am  determined," 
he  says,  "  to  quit  the  bar,  as  soon  as  I  can  settle  my 
business,  and  perform  the  engagements  already  made 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  185 

with  my  clients.  I  have  been  too  careless  of  my 
health,  and  have  suffered  severely  by  my  devotion  to 
business,  which  is  becoming  daily  more  irksome.  I 
have  little  time  for  reading  or  study,  except  what 
ought  to  be  given  to  sleep."  It  should  be  recollected 
that  he  was,  at  this  time,  in  full  practice  at  the  bar,  a 
member  of  the  Legislature,  and,  though  holding  no 
high  office,  the  acknowledged  and  efficient  leader  of 
his  party  in  the  state. 

A  branch  of  business  which  now  gave  him  much 
trouble,  and  made  him,  along  with  some  warm  friends, 
many  enemies,  was  connected  with  the  great  interests 
of  religious  freedom,  which  he  had  always  so  much 
at  heart.  The  Congregational  clergy  in  the  state  had 
been  originally  settled  by  the  towns  or  parishes  where 
they  preached;  and  the  inhabitants  were  all  taxed 
for  their  support.  But  many  individuals  of  their 
congregations,  having  now  become  Baptists,  Metho 
dists,  or  Universalists,  were  no  longer  willing  to  pay 
for  preaching  which  they  did  not  attend.  Property 
had  been  taken  in  many  cases,  on  distraint,  for  taxes 
so  assessed,  and  suits  were  commenced  to  ascertain 
the  rights  of  the  parties.  He  refused,  in  such  cases, 
to  be  of  counsel  for  any  town  or  parish,  which  sought 
to  compel  men  to  pay  taxes,  contrary  to  their  will, 
for  religious  purposes;  but  offered  his  services  readily 
to  those  who  claimed  exemption  from  such  taxes. 
Suits  of  this  kind  were  now  tried,  which  excited 


186  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

much  interest  in  the  community;  and  in  some  of 
them  he  won  verdicts  of  the  jury  against  the  charges 
of  the  court.  In  one  such  case,  where  the  party 
resisting  the  tax  was  a  Universalist,  the  decision 
was  against  him.  Judge  Wingate  charged  the  jury 
that,  if  the  party  claiming  the  exemption,  did  not 
prove  himself,  in  the  words  of  the  Constitution,  to 
belong  to  "another  persuasion,  sect,  or  denomination/' 
he  was  bound  to  pay  his  tax  for  the  support  of  the  min 
ister  of  the  town ;  and  that,  to  make  him  such,  the 
difference  must  be  something  more  than  that  which 
separated  Calvinists  from  Universalists ;  in  other 
words,  that  a  person  who  believed  in  universal  salva 
tion  might,  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  be  of  the  same 
persuasion  with  another,  who  believed  that  not  one 
in  ten  would  be  saved.  They  agreed,  said  the  judge, 
in  more  points  than  they  differed  in.  They  were 
both  Christians;  and  the  inference,  somewhat  harshly 
drawn,  was  that  they  were  both  bound  to  support  the 
same  preacher.  Wingate's  zeal,  in  this  class  of  cases, 
was  probably  political  rather  than  religious,  for  he 
was  not  himself  quite  orthodox  in  his  belief.  But 
the  sectaries  were  nearly  all  Republicans;  while  the 
Congregationalists,  especially  the  clergy,  were  gener 
ally  Federalists. 

Wingate  did  not  confine  himself,  on  this  subject,  to 
charges  from  the  bench.  "During  the  session  of  the 
Superior  Court  at  Dover,  (February,  1799,)  Judge 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  187 

Livermore  privately  informed  me/'  says  my  father, 
"that  his  brethren,  Farrar  and  Wingate,  had  expressed 
to  him  a  decided  disapprobation  of  my  constancy  and 
zeal  in  supporting  those  who  claimed  exemption  from 
taxes  for  the  maintenance  of  clergymen.  I  replied, 
I  was  sorry  that  any  of  the  court  were  so  much  in 
favor  of  supporting  a  privileged  order ;  but  that  this 
circumstance,  instead  of  checking,  would  increase  my 
exertions;  and  so  long  as  I  remained  at  the  bar,  the 
court  would  find  me  a  persevering  and  determined 
advocate  for  the  rights  of  conscience  and  of  property, 
both  involved  in  these  issues."  The  Constitution  of 
1792  was  intended  to  secure  to  all  religious  de 
nominations  the  most  perfect  religious  freedom,  and 
to  prevent  the  "subordination  of  any  one  sect  or 
denomination  to  another."  But  much  was  yet  to  be 
done,  both  with  courts  and  juries,  and  especially  with 
the  great  mass  of  the  religious  community,  before 
this  equality  of  all  sects  in  the  eye  of  the  law, 
and  their  independence  of  one  another,  could  be 
brought  home  to  the  understandings  of  the  people, 
and  carried  out  in  courts  of  law,  to  its  practical  results. 
These  religious  prosecutions  were  among  the  most 
important  means,  though  not  so  designed,  for  effecting 
this  desirable  object.  It  was  not,  however,  till  the 
Toleration  Act  of  1819,  that  full  effect  was  given  to 
those  principles  of  religious  freedom,  for  which  my 
father  had  so  early  and  earnestly  contended.  He 


'188  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

always  regarded  with  complacency  the  influence  he 
had  exerted  in  bringing  about  this  salutary  change. 

In  connection  with  this  subject,  though  having  no 
relation  to  it,  he  mentions  another  rule  of  practice, 
which  he  early  adopted,  that  of  affording  his  aid  to 
the  poor,  for  the  maintenance  of  their  rights,  without 
fee  or  reward.  "I  never  withheld,"  he  says,  "on 
account  of  his  poverty,  my  services,  or  the  money 
necessary  to  carry  on  his  suit,  from  any  man  who 
applied  to  me,  if  his  cause  appeared  to  be  just. 
Though  I  lost  by  this  class  of  persons  thousands  of 
dollars,  either  in  money  actually  advanced,  or  ser 
vices  performed,  I  never  regretted  the  sacrifice.  It 
increased  my  labor,  and  made  some  hard,  unprinci 
pled  men,  my  enemies ;  but  even  they  felt  for  me 
more  respect  than  hatred ;  and  it  interested  the 
feelings  of  better  men  in  my  favor." 

In  1800,  I  do  not  find  much  among  his  papers 
respecting  his  professional  business,  except,  indeed, 
complaints  of  its  pressure  beyond  his  power  of 
endurance,  and  declarations  of  his  intention  not  to  be 
much  longer  the  slave  of  other  men's  business  to  the 
neglect  of  his  own,  and  the  injury  of  his  health. 
The  statute  of  limitations,  as  it  respects  actions  on  the 
case,  took  full  effect  this  year.  "  This  circumstance  so 
much  increased,"  he  says,  "iny  professional  labors, 
that,  added  to  my  ordinary  business,  and  my  attend 
ance  on  the  Legislature,  there  was  little  time  left 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  189 

me  for  reading,  study,  or  amusement  of  any  kind." 
Sickness  prevented  his  attending,  the  next  year,  the 
September  term  (1801)  of  the  Superior  Court  at 
Exeter.  "  This  was,"  he  says,  "  a  serious  injury  to 
me,  and  to  many  of  my  clients,  who  could  not  readily, 
without  previous  notice,  supply  my  place  in  their 
causes.  As  this  ill  health  seemed  likely  to  continue, 
I  determined,  as  soon  as  previous  engagements  would 
permit,  to  relinquish  my  profession,  to  which  my 
strength  was  no  longer  equal.  I  accordingly  began 
in  earnest  to  settle  my  accounts,  collect  my  debts, 
and  invest  my  money  where  it  would  be  safe,  and 
give  me  a  reasonable  return,  without  requiring  much 
of  my  time  or  attention." 

In  June,  of  the  next  year,  he  was  elected  Senator 
in  Congress;  and  his  accepting  this  appointment 
may  be  considered  as  virtually  putting  an  end  to 
his  practice  as  a  lawyer.  "In  August,"  he  says, 
"  I  resigned  my  office  of  Solicitor,  my  determination 
being  to  relinquish  the  profession  of  the  law  alto- 
gethe'r.  My  duty  as  Senator  will  prevent  my 
attending  nearly  half  the  courts  in  the  year,  unless  I 
neglect  the  public  service  for  my  own  private  emolu 
ment,  which  I  have  no  right  to  do."  Though  for 
several  years  after  this  he  attended  some  of  the 
courts,  and  argued  cases,  either  under  previous 
engagements,  or  occasionally  for  some  of  his  old 
clients,  he  never  afterwards  gave  himself  wholly  up 


190  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMEE. 

to  the  business,  or  returned  regularly  to  the  profession. 
He  was  forty-three  years  old  when  elected  Senator, 
and  had  not  yet  seen  half  his  days.  But  his  health 
was  seriously  impaired,  and  he  seems  to  have  consid 
ered  his  life  as  drawing  to  a  close.  Considering  the 
great  age  which  he  finally  attained,  it  is  remarkable 
how  often  he  was  attacked,  and  almost  mastered,  in 
early  and  middle  life,  by  diseases  which,  at  the  time, 
seemed  well-nigh  fatal.  It  is  not  less  remarkable  that 
so  slender  a  constitution  should  have  been  capable  of 
such  severe  and  long-continued  labor.  But  he  was 
abstemious  in  his  diet,  regular  in  his  habits,  and 
generally  careful  not  to  exceed  the  measure  of  his 
strength,  though  never  sparing  of  his  exertions  when 
the  occasion  required. 

I  have  given  these  extracts  from  letters,  and 
fragments  of  journals,  as  presenting,  with  the  accom 
panying  commentary,  a  better  view,  on  the  whole,  of 
his  labors  in  the  profession,  than  any  more  general 
description  could  convey.  There  remains  to  be  given, 
in  the  next  chapter,  some  account  of  his  character, 
practice  and  attainments  as  a  lawyer,  and  of  the 
opinions  entertained  of  him  by  his  principal  associates 
at  the  bar. 


CHAPTER     VI. 

THE  LAWYER.— (CONTINUED.) 

THE  life  of  a  successful  lawyer,  though  full  of  inter 
est  to  himself  and  others,  has  ordinarily  few  inci 
dents  which  can  be  made  the  subject  of  protracted 
narrative.  The  labors  of  years  shrink  in  the  recital 
into  a  few  pages.  Particular  cases  of  more  than 
ordinary  interest,  might,  indeed,  be  made  to  fill 
chapters,  and  even  volumes.  The  subject  of  this 
memoir  was  engaged  in  some  such,  which,  if  properly 
reported,  would  have  been  characteristic  of  the  man, 
and  illustrative  of  the  times.  But  such  reports  were 
not  then  made,  and  cannot  now  be  procured.  Proba 
bly  in  no  department  of  life  is  there  displayed  so 
much  talent  which  leaves  no  record,  as  in  the  trial  of 
cases  in  courts  of  law.  Shrewd  management  and 
ready  wit,  the  keen  retort,  the  deep  learning,  and  the 
impassioned  eloquence  of  the  accomplished  lawyer, 
all  come  into  play,  and  tell  strongly  on  the  result. 
But  they  do  their  work,  and  are  seen  no  more.  Felt 
and  admired  at  the  time,  they  go  to  make  up  the 
contemporary  estimate  of  character,  living  on  the 
spot,  and  in  the  memory  of  those  who  witnessed 


192  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

them,  but  not  to  be  reproduced  for  other  times,  and 
other  admirers.  However  good  in  themselves,  and 
effective  in  their  original  connection,  they  are  essen 
tially  of  the  things  which  perish  tvith  the  using.  No 
attempt  will  therefore  be  here  made  to  give  any 
account  of  particular  trials  in  which  my  father  was 
concerned — the  causes  celebres  of  his  time.  They  are 
lost  in  the  obscurity  of  the  past,  and  with  them  much 
of  the  reputation  which  they  helped  to  build  up, 
carent  quia  sacro  vote.  "  They  had  no  poet,  and  they 
died  ; "  no  stenographer,  and  they  are  unreported. 

There  wras,  in  my  father's  time,  so  little  division  of 
labor  in  the  profession,  that  he  had,  from  the  first, 
to  sustain  the  various  characters  of  an  adviser,  a 
conveyancer,  a  special  pleader,  an  examiner  of  wit 
nesses,  a  narrator  of  facts  to  the  jury,  and  an  arguer 
of  law  to  the  court — barrister,  attorney,  solicitor, 
advocate,  in  regular  and  rapid  succession.  An  account 
of  him  in  these  different  relations  will  give  us  some 
further  insight  into  his  professional  character,  and  his 
standing  at  the  bar.  As  a  counsellor,  in  his  office,  he 
was  patient  in  hearing  the  stories  of  his  clients,  and 
searching  in  his  inquiries  as  to  the  true  merits  of 
their  cases,  before  giving  them  his  advice.  They 
were  often  surprised  to  find,  after  a  few  pertinent 
inquiries,  that  he  understood  their  cases  better  than 
they  did  themselves.  He  was  slow  to  advise  the 
commencement  of  suits,  and  he  never  did  so  where 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  193 

he  had  any  reasonable  doubt  as  to  the  result.     His 
judgment  was  so  sound  in  this  respect,  that  he  seldom 
misled  his  clients.     After  the  first  three  or  four  years 
of  his  practice,  he  had  no  temptation  to  plunge  men 
into  uncertain  litigation  from  the  desire  to  increase 
his  own  emoluments.     He  had  business  enough ;  and 
it  was  often  less  a  favor  to  him  to  be  employed,  than 
it  was  an  advantage  to  his  client  to  secure  his  services. 
He  had,  first  and  last,  sent  away,  he  said,  a  regiment 
of  men;  many  of  whom,  though  dissatisfied  at  the 
time,  came  back  when  their  passions  were  cooled,  to 
thank  him  for  keeping  them  out  of  the  law,  offering 
to  pay  him  for  not  doing  what  they  were  before  eager 
to  have  him  do.  But  though  slow  to  begin  in  doubtful 
cases,  when  once  engaged,  no  repulse  ever  discouraged 
him.     A  first,  or  even  a  second  verdict  did  not  pre 
vent  his  trying  again,  when  he  felt  that  his  cause  was 
a  good  one ;  and  his  perseverance  often  won,  on  the 
final  trial,  causes  which  more  timid  or  less  resolute 
men  would  have  abandoned  in  despair. 

In  the  drafting  of  legal  instruments,  in  the  profes 
sion  of  the  conveyancer,  and  its  kindred  employments, 
he  was  peculiarly  happy.  He  saw  clearly,  in  such 
cases,  what  was  wanted,  and  he  knew  how,  in  precise 
and  accurate  phraseology,  to  express  it.  The  need 
less  verbosities,  the  repetitions,  and  involutions  with 
which  legal  instruments  are  usually  so  much  encum 
bered,  found  little  favor  with  him.  He  expressed,  in 


13 


194  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

a  few  words,  plainly  and  directly,  the  intention  of  the 
parties ;  and  as  to  "the  rest,  residue,  and  remainder," 
the  boundless  contiguity  of  unnecessary  or  unmeaning 
words,  in  which  such  intention  is  often  not  so  much 
manifested  as  concealed,  he  left  that  to  those  who 
took  delight  in  the  darkness  of  these  time-honored 
ambiguities.     Among  the  legal  improvements  which 
he  recommended,  was  the  publication,  by  authority, 
of  a  book  of  forms  for  the  ordinary  business  purposes 
of  life ;    in  which  clearness,  brevity  and  simplicity 
should  be  studied,  and  certainty  secured,  instead  of 
the  obscurity,  tautology,  redundancy  and  circumlo 
cutions  often  found  in  such  instruments.      Akin  to 
this  business  of  preparing  instruments  of  conveyance, 
bond,  and  obligation,  is  that  of  drawing  writs  and 
declarations,   and  the   science    of  special   pleading. 
With  the  elaborately  artificial,  yet  to  the  eye  of  the 
initiated  beautiful  system  of  English  special  pleading, 
he  was  less  acquainted  than  with  some  other  branches 
of  the  common  law.    "  My  preceptor  Prentice  was," 
he  says,  "profoundly  ignorant  on  this  subject;  and  I 
never  acquired  that  thorough  knowledge  of  it,  which 
is  necessary  to  make  a  finished  lawyer.     Though  I 
do  not  recollect  a  single  plea,  or  declaration,  in  the 
course  of  my  practice,  which  I  lost,  for  want  either 
of  form  or  substance,  my   diffidence,   arising   from 
imperfect  knowledge  on  this  subject,  often  gave  me 
uneasiness,  and  occasioned  loss  of  time  in  studying 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  195 

particular  cases,  which  a  more  extensive  knowledge 
would  have  enabled  me  at  once  to  comprehend." 
Special  pleading  was  not  much  in  use  when  he  first 
came  to  the  bar,  as  may  be  readily  understood  by 
the  anecdote  of  Mason  and  West  in  the  last  chapter. 
It  did  not  indeed  become  a  matter  of  much  attention 
till  towards  the  close  of  his  practice ;  so  that,  if  he 
was  not  learned  in  this  part  of  his  profession,  he  had 
less  occasion  than  he  would  have  had,  at  a  later 
period,  for  such  learning.  But  with  Sullivan,  Smith 
and  Mason  for  opponents,  if  he  never  lost  a  plea  or 
declaration  for  defect  of  form  or  substance,  it  may  be 
inferred,  notwithstanding  his  modest  disclaimer,  that 
he  was  not,  even  in  this  branch  of  the  law,  very 
deficient.  In  the  art  of  special  pleading,  Parsons,  we 
are  told,  had  no  competitor;  it  was  Parsons's  book  of 
forms  which  he  had  copied  in  Prentice's  office ;  and 
with  Parsons  he  was  often  engaged  as  junior  counsel, 
and  sometimes  as  opponent. 

His  action  once  in  court,  and  the  pleadings  fairly 
closed,  the  lawyer's  next  care  is  to  bring  his  case 
favorably  before  the  jury.  The  examination  of  wit 
nesses  is  one  of  the  severest  tests  of  his  capacity, 
requiring,  often,  in  no  ordinary  degree,  alternate 
boldness  and  caution,  skill,  judgment,  promptness 
and  self-possession.  In  the  discharge  of  this  difficult 
part  of  his  professional  duty,  my  father  was  much 
distinguished.  While  seemingly  intent  only  on  the 


196  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

discovery  of  the  exact  truth  in  the  case,  he  knew 
how  to  bring  out  from  the  witness  just  what  he 
wanted  to  prove  by  him;  and  to  bring  out  no 
more,  when  more  would  be  prejudicial  to  his  client. 
Assuming  in  his  inquiries  the  position  of  the  jury,  he 
seemed  himself  as  one  of  them,  acting  as  their  fore 
man,  asking  questions  for  them,  solely  with  a  view  to 
elicit  the  truth  of  the  case ;  and  not  as  the  advocate 
of  one  of  the  parties,  whose  aim  it  might  be  to  mis 
lead  and  deceive  them.  The  witness,  on  his  part, 
felt  that,  though  he  had  a  friend  in  his  examiner, 
it  was  one  who  could  not  be  deceived,  and  would 
not  accept  less  than  he  had  a  right  to  require.  The 
timid  witness  grew  confident  under  the  influence  of 
his  cheerful  tones  and  encouraging  smiles;  the  stupid 
brightened  into  sense  in  the  clearness  of  his  perti 
nent  inquiries;  the  hostile  was  disarmed  by  his 
kindness ;  the  cunning  thrown  off  his  guard  by  his 
ease  of  manner,  and  the  apparent  harmlessness  of 
the  questions  asked.  In  cross-examination,  his  man 
ner  was  cautious  and  conciliatory;  but  keen  and 
persevering  in  the  pursuit  of  truth ;  quick  to  detect 
error  or  contradiction;  and  when  concealment  was 
attempted  or  falsehood  uttered,  it  was  no  ordinary 
man  who  could  stand  unmoved  the  indignant  flashes 
of  his  angry  eye,  or  meet,  without  shrinking  and 
confusion,  the  storm  of  searching  questions,  plied  in 
rapid  succession,  and  coming  in  unexpected  variety 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  197 

and  force  from  every  quarter  of  the  horizon,  with 
which  he  bore  down  and  swept  before  him  the 
baffled,  self-convicted,  and,  to  all  eyes,  perjured  wit 
ness.  The  snarl  of  contradiction  and  improbability, 
in  which  he  wound  him  up,  and  threw  him  indig 
nantly  from  him  as  unworthy  of  further  notice,  left 
the  opposing  counsel  little  hope  of  ever  smoothing 
out  again  the  tangled  skein  of  falsehood  and  self- 
condemnation.  Such  a  witness  required  no  new 
dissection  in  arguing  the  case  to  the  jury.  His  fate 
had  been  settled  on  the  stand ;  and  with  it  perhaps 
the  case  itself,  already  well-nigh  won  by  the  triumph 
ant  cross-examination.  This,  however,  was  not  his 
usual  manner.  In  general,  he  won  the  reluctant 
witness  by  mildness  rather  than  by  force ;  and  drew 
from  him  slowly,  by  indirection,  the  truth  which  he 
had  come  prepared  to  conceal,  but  which  the  adroit 
questioning  of  the  quiet  and  civil  examiner  had 
drawn  from  him  unawares.  While  by  apt  questions, 
skilfully  applied,  he  led  his  own  witnesses  to  tell 
what  they  knew,  in  the  order  best  calculated  to 
give  effect  to  their  testimony,  he  drew  with  equal 
skill,  from  the  witnesses  on  the  other  side,  what 
his  opponent  had  purposely  kept  out  of  sight,  as 
adverse  to  his  cause.  What  questions  may  be 
safely  asked,  when  to  press  a  reluctant  witness,  and 
when  it  is  better  to  forbear,  are  points  in  practice 
which  it  is  not  always  easy  to  decide;  but  which 


198  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

must  be  settled  promptly  on  the  spot,  and  sometimes 
at  the  risk  of  losing  the  case  by  a  single  rash  ques 
tion.  His  rare  sagacity  served  him  well  on  such 
occasions;  and  he  seldom  received,  even  from  the 
most  unfriendly  witness,  an  answer  which  left  his 
case  the  worse  for  the  asking. 

Witnesses  under  the  pressure  of  this  close  cross- 
examination  are  often  tempted  to  turn  on  their 
pursuer  with  some  impertinent  inquiry  or  remark, 
either  to  relieve  their  embarrassment,  or  to  dis 
concert  the  examiner  by  turning  his  attention  to 
his  own  defence.  Mr.  Webster  told  me  that  he  once 
saw  my  father  so  assailed.  He  was  examining  a 
noted  quack  doctor,  whom  he  had  pressed  rather 
hard,  and  from  whom  he  could,  at  last,  get  no  other 
answer  to  his  inquiries  than,  "I  do  not  know,  sir." 
After  this  had  been  several  times  repeated,  the  ques 
tion  came,  "Can  you  say,  Doctor,  that,  as  a  physician, 
you  know  any  thing?"  Changing  at  once  the  tone 
of  pretended  ignorance,  with  which  he  had  answered 
the  former  inquiries,  he  drew  himself  up  to  his  full 
height,  and  said,  with  great  confidence,  "I  know, 
Squire  Plumer,  as  much  of  medicine,  as  you  did  of 
divinity,  when  you  were  a  Baptist  preacher."  This 
sally  drew  a  smile  from  the  court  and  bar,  and 
seemed  to  the  audience  a  very  fair  hit.  His  exam 
iner  said  very  quietly,  "When  I  found  that  preach 
ing  was  not  my  proper  business,  I  had  sense  enough 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  199 

to  leave  it.  If  you,  Doctor,  had  possessed  as  much, 
you  would  have  left  off  the  practice  of  medicine 
years  ago,  and  saved  me  the  trouble  of  exposing 
your  ignorance  and  presumption  in  this  case."  The 
laugh  was  now  on  the  other  side;  and  the  Doctor, 
who  no  longer  affected  ignorance,  but  showed  it 
more  than  ever,  was  pressed  home  with  yet  closer 
and  more  searching  questions,  and  finally  dismissed 
crest-fallen  and  discredited  from  the  stand. 

My  father  never  allowed  any  collateral  issue  to 
draw  him  for  a  moment  from  the  question  before  the 
court.  No  temptation  to  show  his  wit,  his  eloquence, 
or  his  learning  prompted  him  to  ask  questions,  make 
points,  or  indulge  in  remarks,  which  did  not  bear 
clearly  and  directly  on  the  case  under  consideration. 
To  be  told  that  he  had  made  an  eloquent  speech 
gave  him  less  pleasure  than  to  find  that  he  had  won 
his  cause,  or,  if  he  had  lost  it,  to  know  that  no  fault 
in  its  management  could  be  imputed  to  him.  He  ac 
cordingly  made  no  speeches  for  display,  no  eloquent 
declamation  to  be  admired  by  the  audience ;  but  put 
himself  closely  and  resolutely  down  to  the  precise 
question  before  him,  the  facts  in  the  case,  and  the 
law  that  should  govern  it.  He  had  in  this  way  no 
occasion  for  long  speeches.  An  hour,  an  hour  and  a 
half,  or,  in  a  few  intricate  cases,  two  hours  at  the 
most,  sufficed  for  all  that  he  had  to  say.  He  left 
speeches,  he  said,  of  four  or  five  hours,  to  those  who 


200  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

could  not  make  them  shorter.  His  style  of  speaking 
was  adapted  to  his  audience.  He  never  spoke  over 
the  heads  of  his  hearers.  There  were  no  nice  law 
distinctions  for  jurors ;  no  refinements  of  thought  for 
plain  farmers;  but  strong  sense,  and  familiar  but 
striking  illustrations,  level  to  their  comprehension, 
and  accordant  with  their  tastes. 

His  skill  in  telling  his  story  was  so  great  that  his 
narration  of  facts  was  often  the  whole  of  his  address 
to  the  jury.  He  had  the  happy  faculty  of  conveying 
an  argument  in  a  narrative  form,  and  could  half 
refute  an  opponent  by  merely  stating  his  positions. 
The  jury  went  along  with  him  in  his  facts,  and  before 
him  in  his  conclusions,  wondering  how  facts  so  plain 
could  be  doubted,  or  conclusions  so  obvious  denied, 
on  the  other  side.  Omitting  all  that  was  unimportant 
in  the  testimony,  he  dwelt  only  on  the  strong  points 
of  the  case,  and  made  as  few  of  these  as  possible ; 
aware  that  a  few  strong  points  are  better  than  many 
weak  ones.  The  clearness  of  his  mind,  which  saw  at 
once  the  true  position  and  relative  weight  of  the 
facts,  infused  itself  gradually  into  the  minds  of  the 
jury,  and  whatever  of  indistinctness  or  confusion 
hovered  at  first  over  the  case,  soon  disappeared 
before  the  simplicity  of  his  statement,  and  the  force 
and  precision  of  his  reasoning.  The  facts  fell  natu 
rally  into  their  proper  places,  or  at  least  into  the 
places  best  suited  to  his  purposes,  converging  steadily 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK.  201 

to  the  same  point,  and  all  leading  to  the  desired 
conclusion.  He  used  to  say  that  before  speaking  five 
minutes,  and  often  while  examining  the  witnesses,  he 
had  felt  the  pulse  of  the  jury,  and  knew  how  they 
stood  affected  towards  his  client.  If  he  found  an 
individual  hostile  or  indifferent,  he  fixed  his  eye 
upon  him,  drew  his  attention  to  the  strong  points  of 
the  case,  and  did  not  leave  him  till  his  looks  showed 
that  his  attention  was  secured,  his  doubts  removed, 
and  his  hostility  softened,  if  not  overcome.  His  saga 
city  was  seldom  at  fault  in  discovering  the  character 
of  men  in  their  looks;  and  his  intercourse  with 
all  classes  was  so  extensive,  that  few  entered  court, 
whether  as  parties,  jurors,  or  witnesses,  whom  he 
did  not  know,  and  to  whom  he  could  not  speak 
with  the  advantage  of  some  personal  acquaintance 
with  their  characters,  interests,  and  feelings.  He 
possessed,  in  an  eminent  degree,  that  nice  tact  of 
the  orator,  which  reveals  to  him,  as  he  advances,  the 
impression  he  is  making  on  his  hearers;  and  tells 
him,  at  once,  when  he  has  gone  far  enough,  when  he 
has  touched  on  too  tender  a  point,  when  he  has 
made  a  happy  hit,  and,  above  all,  when  it  is  time  to 
stop.  He  was,  therefore,  never  tedious  to  his  hearers; 
nor  "thought  of  convincing,  while  they  thought  of 
dining." 

He  had  the  dramatic  faculty  of  throwing  himself, 
by  turns,  into  the  position  of  his  client,  his  opponent, 


202  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

his  witnesses,  the  court,  and  the  jury;  and,  whatever 
might  be  the  case  in  hand,  he  seemed  to  feel  the 
passions  which  it  was  his  object  to  inspire.  Yet  this 
warmth  of  feeling  took  nothing  from  the  coolness  of 
his  judgment,  or  the  skill  with  which,  while  choosing 
his  own  positions,  he  repelled  the  attacks  of  his 
opponent.  The  power  of  his  eloquence  was  not  in 
studied  language,  in  artificial  arrangement,  or  in 
pomp  of  declamation,  of  which  he  had  nothing,  but 
in  the  fervor  of  the  feelings  to  which  he  gave  utter 
ance,  and  the  force  and  clearness  of  the  thoughts 
which  sprang,  as  if  spontaneously,  from  the  convictions 
of  his  own  mind, — an  impulse  which,  it  seemed,  he 
could  not  himself  resist,  and  to  which  others,  there 
fore,  the  more  readily  yielded.  The  contagion  of 
passion  spread  from  his  own  to  other  bosoms;  the 
ardor  of  conviction  from  the  advocate  to  his  hearers. 
It  seemed  less  the  zeal  of  professional  duty,  than  the 
energy  of  truth,  which  inspired  him.  The  power  of 
entering,  not  with  apparent  fervor,  merely,  but,  for 
the  moment,  with  the  true  warmth  of  genuine  sym 
pathy,  into  the  merits  of  his  client's  case,  yet  without 
losing  the  self-possession  necessary  to  judicious  advo 
cacy,  is  the  rare  attribute  of  the  accomplished  and 
successful  advocate.  When,  from  the  nature  of  the 
case,  this  warmth  of  feeling  was  unnecessary,  or  wrould 
have .  been  out  of  place,  his  coolness,  promptness, 
sagacity,  and  strong  practical  common  sense,  left 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  203 

nothing  unattempted  which  could  secure  success. 
Sullivan,  Smith,  Mason  and  Webster,  were  employed 
against  him ;  yet  no  client  of  his  ever  complained 
that  his  cause  suffered,  either  from  want  of  talent  or 
information  in  his  attorney,  from  indifference  to  his 
interests,  or  inability  to  maintain  them,  against  even 
such  opponents. 

That  such  men  put  his  powers  to  the  proof  cannot 
be  doubted.  Speaking  of  his  own  training,  in  the 
same  severe  school  of  practice,  Mr.  Webster  said,  on 
the  occasion  of  Mr.  Mason's  death,  "  I  must  have  been 
unintelligent,  indeed,  not  to  have  learned  something 
from  the  constant  display  of  that  power,  which  I  had 
so  much  occ'asion  to  see  and  feel."  No  man  of  ordi 
nary  talents  or  attainments  could  hold  his  ground  in 
these  struggles,  or  come  out  of  them  uninjured. 
Yet,  in  the  severest  competitions  of  the  bar, — the 
conflict  of  mind  with  mind,  in  which  learning  and 
skill,  wit  and  eloquence,  promptness  and  audacity, 
were  all  in  turn  required, — there  was  an  intenseness 
of  life  and  enjoyment,  an  excitement  of  feeling,  an 
enlargement  of  heart,  and  a  power  of  intellect 
exerted,  which  made  such  encounters  at  once  delight 
ful  to  my  father,  and  dangerous  to  his  health.  His 
frame  was  not  equal  to  the  labors  of  his  vocation ; 
and  he  seldom  returned  from  court  without  being 
confined  for  days,  by  illness,  to  his  room,  and  some 
times  to  his  bed.  More  than  once,  these  attacks 


204  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

produced  such  utter  prostration  of  strength,  as  to 
threaten,  for  a  time,  to  end  his  labors  with  his  life. 

It  only  remains  to  speak  of  his  mode  of  arguing 
questions  of  law  to  the  court.  The  practical  turn  of 
his  mind  was  here  conspicuous.  He  indulged  in  none 
of  those  nice,  wire-drawn  distinctions,  which,  though 
the  delight  of  subtile  intellects,  are  too  refined  for  the 
coarse  business  of  ordinary  life.  He  rested  his  case 
mainly  on  broad  views  of  justice,  on  that  compre 
hensive  common  sense  which  leads  by  obvious  steps 
to  practical  results, — to  those  precise  and  definite 
conclusions  with  which  life  and  daily  practice  can  be 
alone  conversant.  He  had  habitually  little  reverence 
for  authority,  and  was  more  fond  of  appealing  to  the 
reason  of  the  law  than  to  the  weight  or  number  of 
adjudged  cases.  Regarding  jurisprudence  as  a  science, 
resting  on  general  principles  of  right  and  justice,  he 
labored  to  make  himself  master  of  those  principles; 
and  trusted  to  his  own  strong  reasoning  powers  to 
carry  them  out,  in  practice,  to  their  legitimate  con 
clusions.  He  was,  therefore,  a  sound  reasoner  on 
questions  of  law,  rather  than  a  deep-read  or  bookish 
lawyer;  and  prided  himself  less  on  the  learning  of 
cases,  than  on  his  acquaintance  with  the  reason,  the 
nature,  and  the  objects  of  the  law  ;  arguing  mainly 
from  elementary  principles  and  acknowledged  truths 
to  the  conclusions  which  he  sought  to  establish. 
When  these  were  reached,  if  he  added  a  few  strong 


LIFE    OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER.  205 

cases,  in  confirmation  of  his  doctrines,  it  was  for  the 
satisfaction  of  others,  rather  than  because  they  seemed 
necessary  to  his  own  mind. 

In  this,  as  in  some  other  respects,  he  resembled 
Samuel  Dexter,  of  Boston,  who  came  sometimes  into 
our  courts,  rather  than  Theophilus  Parsons,  who  prac 
tised  for  many  years,  regularly,  in  them.  These 
distinguished  lawyers  being,  on  one  occasion,  opposed 
to  each  other,  Dexter,  who  had  comparatively  little 
law  learning,  said,  in  the  conclusion  of  his  argument, 
66  The  law  in  this  case  is  as  I  have  explained  it ;  and 
it  lies,  as  your  Honors  see,  in  the  compass  of  a  nut 
shell.  My  brother  Parsons  has  here  a  basket  full  of 
law  books ;  and  he  will  endeavor  to  show  from  them 
that  it  is  all  the  other  way.  But  one  plain  dictate 
of  common  sense,  one  clear  maxim  of  the  common 
law,  is  worth  a  cart-load  of  such  rubbish."  This 
was  said  as  a  taunt,  perhaps;  but  it  marked,  to 
a  certain  extent,  the  character  of  the  man.  Some 
thing  of  the  same  kind  is  told  of  Judge  Marshall, 
who,  in  consultation  with  the  Judges  of  the  Su 
preme  Court,  is  said,  on  some  occasion,  to  have  laid 
down  the  law,  as  deduced  by  him  from  acknowl 
edged  legal  principles,  in  a  train  of  powerful 
reasoning,  and  to  have  concluded  by  saying,  "  Such 
appears  to  me  to  be  the  law  in  this  case ;  though  I 
have  not,  I  confess,  looked  much  into  the  books  in 
reference  to  it.  If  I  am  correct,  our  brother  Story, 


206  LIFE    OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

here,"  turning  with  a  benignant  smile  to  that  learned 
jurist,  "  can  give  us  the  cases,  from  the  Ten  Tables 
down  to  the  latest  term-reports."  Something  of  the 
same  difference  of  mental  habit  existed  in  the  case  of 
Smith  and  my  father.  Smith  was  learned  in  law 
books,  and  elaborate  in  cited  cases.  My  father  dealt 
less  with  authorities,  and  more  with  the  reason  of  the 
law.  While  the  one  sought  the  rule  among  conflict 
ing  precedents,  the  other  found  it  in  the  immutable 
principles  of  truth  and  justice. 

Not  that  my  father  despised  authorities,  or  failed 
to  use  them  when  they  served  his  purpose,  as  with  a 
certain  class  of  minds  they  always  do,  better  than 
abstract  reasoning,  or  an  appeal  to  general  principles. 
The  authorities  sometimes  cited  by  him,  though  quite 
effective,  were  not  always  such  as  would  be  deemed 
pertinent  at  the  present  day.  He  used  to  tell,  with 
great  glee,  of  having,  in  his  early  practice,  carried  a 
point  of  law  against  Parsons,  who  relied  on  English 
authorities,  by  a  quotation  from  the'  law  of  Moses, 
which  seemed  to  the  court,  and  especially  to  Judge 
Dudley,  entitled  to  more  weight  than  any  citation 
which  Parsons  could  make  from  Coke,  or  Hale,  or 
my  Lord  Mansfield.  "  Mansfield,"  exclaimed  Judge 
Dudley,  "  that  is  the  cunning  Scotchman,  who,  with 
Lord  North  and  George  the  Third,  would  have  made 
slaves  of  us  all."  It  was  not,  however,  for  law  to  the 
court,  so  much  as  for  argument  and  illustration  with 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  207 

the  jury,  that  his  scriptural  knowledge  was  useful  to 
him  in  such  cases.  A  text  from  the  Bible  would,  at 
the  present  day,  be  lost  on  the  court,  and  might, 
perhaps,  avail  little  with  the  jury.  It  was  not  so  in 
the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  both 
court  and  jury  knew  more  of  the  Bible  than  of 
law-books.  The  men  who  then  filled  the  jury-box 
had  read  their  Bibles,  and  many  of  them  little  else. 
A  scriptural  quotation  was  often  more  effective  with 
them  than  an  argument  from  any  other  source.  In 
this  way,  the  former  eloquent  preacher,  and  present 
sagacious  lawyer,  came  down  upon  his  opponents 
with  a  weight  of  authority,  and  an  aptness  of  illus 
tration,  which  seldom  failed  of  its  intended  effect. 
The  law  of  the  case,  as  laid  down  in  the  books,  was 
of  course  argued  and  explained  ;  but  it  never  seemed 
so  strong  to  the  jury  as  when  enforced  by  some 
precept  of  the  Mosaic  law,  some  shrewd  saying  of 
the  wise  King  of  Israel,  or  some  fervid  injunction  of 
the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles.  The  habit  of  scripture 
quotations,  which  came  to  us  from  the  Puritan 
fathers,  and  which  is  now  getting  a  little  obsolete, 
was,  at  that  time,  much  in  accordance  with  the 
popular  taste.  It  was  to  my  father  what  the  Greek 
and  Latin  poets  are  to  the  classical  scholar.  With 
the  classics  of  our  own  language,  with  the  exception 
of  Pope,  whose  terse  and  brilliant  couplets  he  often 
quoted,  he  was,  in  the  early  part  of  his  career,  but 


208  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

little  acquainted.  It  was  not  till  his  fiftieth  year  that 
he  read  the  entire  works  of  Shakspeare  ;  and  he 
expressed  to  me  his  regret  that,  for  the  purposes  of 
the  bar,  as  well  as  on  so  many  other  accounts,  he  had 
not  been  earlier  conversant  with  the  wit  and  the  wis 
dom,  the  depth  and  the  universality  of  Shakspeare's 
knowledge  of  human  nature,  his  familiarity  with 
every  phasis  of  life  and  action,  and  his  mastery  of 
all  the  passions  and  emotions  of  the  soul. 

I  mentioned,  in  a  former  chapter,  the  names  of  the 
principal  lawyers  at  the  bar,  with  whom  Mr.  Plumer 
had  to  act  when  he  was  first  admitted  to  the  practice. 
As  the  older  among  them  were  gradually  withdrawn 
by  death,  or  other  causes,  from  the  forensic  strife, 
the  younger  Sullivan,  Smith,  Mason,  and  Webster, 
came  successively  on,  not  to  take  their  places  merely, 
but  to  give  new  power  and  a  higher  interest  to  the 
generous  and  ennobling  competition.  To  compare 
my  father  with  these  great  lawyers  would  be  a 
difficult  task  in  itself,  and  certainly  one  of  some  deli 
cacy  for  the  present  writer.  It  will  not  be  here 
attempted;  yet  a  few  traits  in  the  character  of  each, 
as  contrasted  with  his,  may  not  be  out  of  place  in 
this  estimate  of  his  character  and  standing  at  the 
bar.  George  Sullivan  was  for  forty  years  in  full 
practice  at  Exeter ;  and,  as  Attorney-General,  which 
office  his  father  had  filled  before  him,  and  his  son  has 
since  filled,  he  rode  the  circuit  of  the  State,  and 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  209 

practised  in  all  the  counties.  He  was  a  classical 
scholar,  and  professed  to  have  formed  himself  on  the 
model  of  the  great  Roman  orator.  He  was  well 
read,  according  to  the  standard  of  law  learning  in 
that  day ;  a  good  special  pleader,  quick  to  perceive 
the  bearings  of  his  case,  and  ready  of  resource  in 
new  emergencies.  In  addressing  the  jury,  he  was 
master  of  an  easy  and  harmonious  flow  of  ready 
elocution,  which,  though  little  varied,  was  the  delight 
of  jurors,  and  the  admiration  of  crowds  of  eager 
listeners,  who  were  never  tired  of  praising  his  hand 
some  person,  his  fine  attitudes,  and  elegant  attire,  and 
who  hung  with  rapture  on  the  soft  sounds  of  his 
silver  voice.  His  peculiar  style  of  measured  and 
almost  rhythmical  speaking,  he  is  said,  by  Judge 
Smith,  to  have  caught  from  Samuel  Dexter.  If  he 
was  in  this  an  imitator,  his  son  is  not  less  so, — it  was 
more  probably  natural  in  both.  With  his  mildness 
and  decorum  of  manner,  there  was  in  his  tempera 
ment  a  keen  sensibility  of  feeling  which  contrasted 
strongly  with  the  contemptuous  power  of  Mason, 
and,  when  occasion  demanded  it,  with  the  withering 
scorn  of  Webster.  The  anger  of  Sullivan  flashed, 
indeed,  like  gunpowder ;  but  the  puff  was  as  quickly 
overblown.  No  man  was,  in  general,  more  courteous 
and  gentlemanly  in  his  bearing,  or  stood  better  with 
his  brethren  of  the  bar.  My  father's  manner  was,  in 
many  respects,  the  reverse  of  that  of  Sullivan.  With 

14 


210  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

none  of  his  pomp  of  oratory,  he  had  more  variety  of 
expression,  and  more  force  of  thought,  and  was  less 
liable  to  be  thrown  suddenly  from  his  track  by  the 
impulse  of  passion. 

With  Smith,  he  had  many  points  of  agreement. 
Lawyers  by  profession,  Federal  in  their  politics,  and 
liberal  in  their  religious  views;  regular  in  their 
habits,  and  indefatigable  in  business ;  fond  of  books, 
and  devoted  to  letters,  at  a  time  when  such  devotion 
was  less  common  than  at  present,  they  had  been  for 
many  years  warm  friends  and  constant  correspond 
ents.  There  were,  however,  quite  as  many  points  in 
which  they  differed.  The  one  was  grave,  thoughtful, 
direct  and  earnest ;  the  other  quaint,  full  of  humor, 
and  addicted  to  irony.  The  turn  of  the  one  was  to 
original  thought ;  that  of  the  other  to  accumulated 
learning.  The  one  was  brief,  pointed,  sententious; 
the  other  copious  and  diffusive,  going  over  the  ground 
in  repeated  excursions,  heaping  up  facts  and  law, 
arguments  and  illustrations,  till  he  seemed  sometimes 
lost  in  the  superfluity  of  his  abundance.  In  several 
important  cases,  after  Smith's  removal  to  Exeter,  in 
which  they  were  opposed  to  each  other,  the  one  made 
his  clear,  forcible,  and  well  reasoned  speech  of  forty 
minutes  or  an  hour,  and  won  his  cause ;  the  other  his 
brilliant  and  witty  harangue  of  two  or  three  hours, 
and  lost  it.  Not  that  Smith  was  an  unsuccessful  advo 
cate  ;  but  the  result  of  many  trials  proved  that  he 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  211 

was  stronger  with  his  law  for  the  court,  than  with  his 
facts  for  the  jury.  In  1802,  he  took  his  seat  on  the 
bench  of  the  Superior  Court,  where,  as  Chief  Justice, 
he  acquired  eminent  reputation  by  his  learning,  his 
industry,  and  his  high  legal  attainments. 

Mr.  Mason  came  to  the  Rockingham  bar  in  1797; 
and  it  was  at  once  felt  that  his  Titanic  bulk  and 
elephantine  movement  were  but  the  due  accompani 
ment  and  emblems  of  a  mind  as  gigantic,  standing 
intellectually,  as  well  as  physically,  above  other  men. 
Cool,  wary,  devoted  to  his  client,  and  prompt  to  seize 
every  advantage,  whether  of  form  or  substance,  which 
could  aid  his  cause ;  in  knowledge  of  the  law,  in  abil 
ity  to  bring  its  remotest  analogies  and  most  subtile 
distinctions  to  bear  strongly  on  the  question  before 
the  court,  in  legal  acumen,  and  cumulative  power  of 
close  reasoning,  he  had  no  equal  at  the  bar,  or  on  the 
bench.  If  he  was  sometimes  too  refined  and  minute 
in  his  distinctions,  it  was  because  he  saw  clearly  him 
self,  and  could  make  palpable  to  others  shades  of 
difference  in  cases,  which,  to  ordinary  minds,  seemed 
identical.  In  the  examination  of  witnesses  he  was 
not  less  distinguished.  Woe  to  the  dishonest  witness 
who  fell  under  the  grasp  of  his  unsparing  hand.  No 
engine  of  torture  ever  made  joints  snap,  and  nerves 
and  sinews  strain  and  crack,  with  more  merciless. 
severity,  than  did  the  questions  with  which  he  plied 
the  reluctant  or  perjured  witness,  wrench  from  him 


212  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

the  facts  which  he  sought  in  vain  to  withhold,  or 
disjoint  and  dismember  the  specious  falsehoods  put 
forward  by  him  under  the  guise  of  truth.  No  accu 
mulation  of  cunning  was  too  deep  for  him  to  pierce 
it.  He  bored  the  strata  in  every  direction,  and  to  all 
imaginable  depths,  till,  if  there  was  a  vein  of  false 
hood  in  the  mass,  his  rod  reached  it,  and  it  spouted 
up,  at  once,  in  sight  of  all  beholders.  He  had  not, 
in  speaking,  the  advantage  of  a  good  voice ;  nor  was 
his  manner  graceful.  He  made  no  pretence  to  elo 
quence,  or  ornament  of  speech,  and  he  sneered  at  all 
appearance  of  feeling,  or  emotion,  as  affected,  or  out 
of  place,  in  an  advocate  at  the  bar.  But  he  seized, 
as  with  a  giant's  grasp,  on  the  attention  of  both  court 
and  jury,  and  bore  them  forward,  with  irresistible 
force,  to  the  conclusion  of  his  argument.  The  hearer 
was  not  so  much  persuaded,  as  compelled  to  go  along 
with  him.  The  argument  was  one  connected  chain 
of  clear  statement  and  strong  reasoning, — a  chain  in 
which  there  was  no  weak  link,  and  which  bound  the 
premises,  however  remote,  or  apparently  disconnected, 
-with  the  desired  conclusion, — a  conclusion  which  the 
'hearer  felt,  long  before  it  was  reached,  that  he  could, 
by  no  possibility,  avoid,  or  stop  short  of,  or  turn 
aside  from.  In  all  this  there  was  no  declamation, 
and  no  appeal  to  the  passions.  The  only  passion, 
indeed,  which  he  ever  seemed  to  feel,  was  that  of 
contempt ;  contempt  for  his  opponent,  his  client,  and 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  213 

his  witnesses  •  contempt,  even,  for  the  court  and  the 
jury  which  he  was  addressing ;  a  feeling  which  those 
who  were  its  objects  in  vain  strove  to  resist,  and 
which  was,  in  fact,  one  of  the  strong  agencies  by 
which  he  wrought  them  to  his  purpose.  Speaking  of 
the  terrible  power  of  his  sarcasm,  Mr.  Webster  said  it 
was  "  not  frothy  or  petulant,  but  cool  and  vitriolic." 
This  latter  epithet  shows  that  he  had  himself  felt  at 
times  its  caustic  severity.  With  Smith,  both  before 
he  went  upon  the  bench,  and  after  he  left  it,  Mason 
had  frequent  contests,  degenerating  sometimes  into 
personalities  more  amusing  to  the  spectators  than 
agreeable  to  the  parties  concerned.  There  was,  on 
these  occasions,  between  them  no  child's  play,  no 
sparring  with  blunt  foils ;  but  cut  and  thrust,  with 
sharp  steel,  in  sincere  and  earnest  encounter.  The 
New  Hampshire  bar,  at  this  period,  according  to 
Chief  Justice  Parker,  inculcated  on  its  members 
"  great  fidelity  to  the  interests  of  the  client,  rather 
than  great  courtesy  towards  the  opposing  counsel." 
Yet  no  permanent  ill-will,  or  personal  rancor,  was 
engendered  by  these  ebullitions  of  professional  zeal. 
Each  knew  the  power  of  his  antagonist,  and  admired, 
as  kindred  to  his  own,  the  vigor  of  the  blow,  even 
while  reeling  under  it.  Smith,  in  these  struggles, 
showed,  perhaps,  more  adroitness;  Mason  certainly 
more  strength.  At  a  later  period,  both  of  these  came 
often  in  contact  with  the  ready  wit  and  acrid  humor 


214  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

of  Ichabod  Bartlett,  who  was  one  of  the  remarkable 
members  of  what  was  then  a  very  remarkable  bar. 

A  greater  man  than  even  Mason,  though  not 
a  greater  lawyer,  showed  himself  when  Webster 
came  to  Portsmouth,  in  1807,  to  take  his  share  in 
these  hardy  contests.  My  father  first  tried  the 
strength  of  the  new  combatant  in  a  road  case  of 
some  interest  and  notoriety ;  and,  though  he  felt  and 
acknowledged  his  extraordinary  power,  he  neither 
shrank  from,  nor  lost  credit  in,  the  encounter.  He 
won  his  case,  and  impressed  on  his  opponent  a  high 
sense  of  his  skill  and  resources, — an  opinion  which, 
on  all  suitable  occasions,  Mr.  Webster  was  ever  after 
ready  to  express.  My  father  considered  the  manner 
of  the  young  advocate,  on  this  occasion,  as  too  excur 
sive  and  declamatory;  and  predicted  that  his  direction 
would  be  to  politics  rather  than  to  law, — a  judgment 
only  partially  verified  by  the  event.  For,  though 
pre-emir  jnt  as  a  statesman,  he  was  hardly  less  so  as 
a  lawyer ;  giving,  in  this  respect,  a  rare  example  of 
the  highest  distinction  obtained  by  the  same  person 
in  these  two  great  departments  of  thought  and  action. 
I  was  once  present  when  they  wrere  arguing  against 
each  other  some  question  of  evidence  to  the  court? 
and  was  much  struck  with  the  manner  in  which 
Webster  commented  on  a  passage  read  by  my  father 
from  Peake's  Law  of  Evidence.  After  criticizing  it 
severely  as  bad  law,  he  ended  with  pronouncing  the 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK.  215    • 

book  itself  a  miserable  two-penny  compilation,  throw 
ing  it  with  an  air  of  contemptuous  disdain  on  the 
table,  and  adding,  "  So  much  for  Mr.  Thomas  Peake's 
Compendium  of  the  Law  of  Evidence."  The  manner 
alone  seemed  sufficient  to  settle  the  point  forever, 
and  to  place  Thomas  Peake  henceforth  below  the 
notice  of  court  or  bar.  My  father  made  no  answer 
whatever  to  his  comments  on  the  passage  quoted, 
but  quietly  handed  up  to  the  Chief  Justice  a  vol 
ume  of  Burrow's  Reports,  open  at  the  place  where 
Lord  Mansfield  lays  down  the  law  in  the  very 
words  used  by  Peake,  and  requested  him  to  read 
it.  When  he  had  done  so,  Webster  took  the  book, 
looked  some  time  at  it,  and  then  laid  the  volume 
on  the  table,  with  no  attempt  to  answer  it.  It 
was  now  evident  that  Peake,  backed  by  Mansfield, 
stood  once  more  rectus  in  curia.  Mr.  Webster's  lan 
guage,  at  this  early  period  of  his  practice,  was  often 
austere  and  unceremonious,  not  to  say  rude  and 
overbearing,  not  to  the  bar  merely,  but  sometimes 
to  the  court;  and  this  "abruptness  of  expression" 
was,  according  to  Judge  Parker,  "rendered  more 
marked  by  the  volume  of  his  voice,"  and,  he  might 
have  added,  by  the  glow  of  his  cavernous  eyes,  and 
the  curl  of  his  scornful  lip.  At  a  later  period,  he 
was  seldom  deficient  in  the  courtesy  towards  his 
opponent,  and  the  deference  to  the  court,  which  were 
due  not  less  to  his  own  character  than  to  theirs.  The 


216  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

first  impression  which  Mr.  Webster  made  on  Mr. 
Mason,  was  thus  related  to  me  by  the  latter,  many 
years  after:  "He  broke  upon  me  like  a  thunder- 
shower  in  July,  sudden,  portentous,  sweeping  all 
before  it.  It  was  the  first  case  in  which  he  appeared 
at  our  bar ;  a  criminal  prosecution,  in  which  I  had 
arranged  a  very  pretty  defence,  as  against  the  Attor 
ney  General,  Atkinson,  who  was  able  enough  in  his 
way,  but  whom  I  knew  very  well  how  to  take. 
Atkinson  being  absent,  Webster  conducted  the  case 
for  him,  and  turned,  in  the  most  masterly  man 
ner,  the  line  of  my  defences,  carrying  with  him  all 
but  one  of  the  jurors,  so  that  I  barely  saved  my 
client,  at  the  last  moment,  by  my  best  exertions.  I 
was  never  more  surprised  than  by  this  remarkable 
exhibition  of  unexpected  power.  It  surpassed,  in 
some  respects,  anything  which  I  have  ever  since 
seen,  even  in  him."  My  father  did  not  remain  long 
enough  at  the  bar  to  witness  much  of  Webster's 
subsequent  career  there.  He  had  been  long  accus 
tomed  to  the  ready  elocution  and  Milesian  blood  of 
Sullivan,  the  elaborate  learning  and  quaint  humor 
of  Smith,  and  the  proud  superiority  with  which 
Mason  maintained  his  sway  over  court  and  bar,  jury- 
box  and  witness-stand.  Into  this  arena  of  intellectual 
contest  Webster  brought  his  cold,  unimpassioned 
power  of  close  logic  and  unyielding  argumentation ; 
his  intuitive  perception  of  the  strong  points  of  his 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  217 

case ;  his  ready  command  of  precise  and  perspicuous 
language ;  his  severe  taste ;  and,  above  all,  when 
hard  pressed  and  roused  by  opposition,  that  warmth 
of  passion  and  fire  of  emotion,  which,  fusing  the 
rugged  metal  of  his  harsher  nature,  poured  the 
mingled  mass  of  thought  and  feeling,  hot  and  glow 
ing  from  the  furnace  of  an  excited  mind,  into  forms 
of  beauty  and  structures  of  grandeur,  admirable 
alike  for  graceful  proportions  and  colossal  strength. 

I  have  dwelt  so  long  upon  the  keen  encounters  of 
these  adverse,  and  sometimes  angry  wits,  that  the 
reader  may  perhaps  conclude  that  these  remarkable 
men  were  great  only  in  what  Lord  Eldon  calls  "the 
ivar  of  ivords,  the  battle  of  laivr/ers'  tongues"  on  this 
theatre  of  forensic  disputation.  They  were,  however, 
all  of  them  distinguished  politicians  as  well  as  lawr- 
yers.  In  the  more  private  relations  of  life  they  were 
equally  remarkable.  Smith,  in  his  old  age,  even 
more,  perhaps,  than  at  an  earlier  period,  was  the 
delight  of  both  young  and  old,  by  the  rare  gift  of  his 
extraordinary  conversational  powers.  While  his  good 
sense  and  his  industry  made  him  an  able  lawyer, 
there  was  high  originality,  true  genius,  in  his  humor. 
What  gaiety,  what  waggery  and  exuberance  of 
youthful  spirits  in  this  arch  and  facetious  old  man,  so 
bent  on  sport,  and  indifferent  to  the  decorous  observ 
ances  of  grave  society !  What  a  rare  vein  of  satire 
and  piquant  raillery,  always  sprightly  and  amusing, 


218  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

and,  if  not  always  harmless  and  inoffensive,  yet 
wholly  free  from  the  venom  of  malignant  misan 
thropy!  In  his  graver  moods,  Smith  was  equally 
interesting,  with  the  stores  of  his  learning,  and  his 
reminiscences  of  Washington,  Hamilton,  Madison, 
Marshall,  Ames,  and  other  great  men  with  whom  he 
had  become  acquainted  while  in  Congress.  Mason's 
conversation  was  of  a  different  character.  He  had 
none  of  Smith's  wit  or  humor,  but  a  style  of  sarcasm 
peculiarly  his  own,  growing  out  of  the  severely  prac 
tical  turn  of  his  mind,  which  scorned  all  affectation 
of  feeling,  and  had  little  charity  for  that  in  others 
of  which  he  had  none  himself.  Grave,  suggestive, 
full  of  original  thought  and  curious  information,  he 
seemed  equally  familiar  with  history,  government, 
morals,  science,  the  concerns  of  common  life,  and  the 
occupations  and  pursuits  of  men.  He  was  fond  of 
conversation,  and  wanted  only  a  patient  listener, 
who  should  stir  him  occasionally  with  pertinent 
inquiries,  to  draw  forth,  for  hours  together,  the  rich 
treasures  of  his  accumulated  knowledge,  and  the  yet 
richer  resources  of  his  curious  and  original  thought. 
No  man  ever  left  him,  after  such  an  interview,  with 
out  carrying  with  him  facts  to  be  remembered,  and 
material  for  reflection,  meditation  and  inquiry.  Of 
Mr.  Webster,  it  is  enough  to  say  that  he  was  as 
attractive  in  conversation  as  powerful  in  debate. 
He,  too,  had  with  his  profound  veins  of  original 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  219 

thought  a  rich  fund  of  anecdote,  and  hoards  of 
learning  deposited  in  a  memory  which  held  every 
thing  it  had  ever  grasped;  and  he  was  always  as 
ready  to  communicate,  as  eager  to  acquire.  The 
condescension  of  his  manner,,  when  disposed  to 
unbend,  was  all  the  more  delightful,  as  contrasted 
with  his  usual  dignity  of  deportment,  and  gave  to 
his  smile  a  kindly  welcome,  and  his  few  but  expres 
sive  words  of  compliment  and  commendation  a  power 
of  fascination  which  few  could  resist. 

It  may  well  be  doubted  whether  any  other  county 
bar  in  the  Union  could  have  matched  the  three  or 
four  remarkable  men  to  whom  I  have  thus  briefly 
adverted — two  of  them,  certainly,  second  to  none  of 
their  times.  Distinguished,  however,  as  they  were, 
the  subject  of  this  memoir  played  among  them  no 
subordinate  part.  Unequal  in  mere  law  learning  to 
Smith,  with  less  acuteness  of  metaphysical  discrim 
ination  than  Mason,  and  yielding,  as  all  others  have 
done,  to  the  massive  intellect  of  Webster,  he  was 
equal  to  either  of  them  in  his  knowledge  of  human 
nature,  in  promptness  of  resource,  in  dexterous  adapt 
ation  of  means  to  ends,  in  clearness  and  precision  of 
statement,  in  aptness  of  illustration,  and  in  that  ready 
command  of  popular  eloquence,  which,  springing 
evidently  from  warmth  of  conviction,  carried  with 
it  the  sympathies  of  his  hearers,  and  won  for  him 
the  favor  of  the  court,  and  the  verdict  of  the  jury. 


220  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

It  was  this  verdict,  which,  in  all  his  efforts,  he  kept 
steadily  in  view ;  and  when  this  came  he  felt  that 
he  had  attained  his  object,  which  was  not  to  make  a 
great  speech,  or  a  learned  argument,  but  to  win  his 
client's  cause.  It  was  his  devotion,  in  every  stage  of 
the  case,  to  the  business  in  hand,  his  never  deviating 
to  any  collateral  issue,  or  stopping  to  scatter  flowers 
of  rhetoric,  or  indulging  in  flights  of  fancy  or  pomp 
of  declamation,  which  brought  him  so  frequently 
and  so  surely  to  the  desired  termination  of  his  labors, 
and  acquired  for  him  the  reputation  of  the  most  suc 
cessful  advocate  of  his  time.  "  Clearness,  force,  and 
earnestness,"  says  Mr.  Webster,  "are  the  qualities 
which  produce  conviction;"  and  these  were  the 
elements  of  success  in  this,  as  in  other  cases,  —  a 
perspicuous  statement  of  facts,  a  severe  style  of  close 
reasoning,  and  a  force  and  earnestness  of  manner, 
springing,  if  not  always  from  conviction  of  the  just 
ness  of  his  cause,  yet  in  all  cases  from  a  feeling 
that  it  was  his  duty  to  his  client  to  put  his  full  force 
into  the  cause  he  had  undertaken  to  advocate. 

I  was  a  school-boy  in  the  academy  at  Exeter  dur 
ing  the  latter  part  of  his  active  practice  at  the  bar, 
and  had  therefore  an  opportunity  sometimes  to  hear 
him  speak.  I  remember  one  case  in  particular,  which, 
possessing  some  local  interest,  and  being  argued  on  a 
Wednesday  afternoon,  nearly  all  the  academy  boys 
attended.  We  were  delighted  with  the  arguments ; 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  221 

and,  on  coming  out,  I  found  myself  suddenly  the 
object  of  more  than  usual  attention,  not  at  all  on  my 
own  account,  but  as  my  father's  son.  During  vaca 
tion  he  sometimes  took  me  with  him  when  he  had  a 
case  before  a  justice,  or  before  referees.  One  such 
case,  which  I  attended  at  Hampton  Falls,  fur 
nished  me  an  example  of  the  boldness  and  severity 
with  wrhich,  fearless  of  consequences,  he  spoke,  when 
occasion  required  it,  of  the  conduct  and  character  of 
men.  In  this  case,  he  felt  himself  called  upon  to 
dispense  his  censures  in  no  measured  terms,  holding 
up  the  conduct  of  the  party  to  which  he  was  opposed 
to  the  ridicule  and  the  contempt  of  the  referees, 
and  of  the  numerous  audience  of  his  neighbors 
that  filled  the  house.  This  he  did  with  such  force 
and  heartiness,  that  he  seemed  to  me  to  have  made 
the  man  forever  his  personal  enemy.  When  the 
hearing  was  over,  he  called  for  his  horse,  and  we 
were  already  in  the  chaise,  when  the  person  so 
assailed  was  seen  approaching  us.  He  was  a  large, 
stout  man,  of  no  very  inviting  looks ;  and,  as  he  had 
shown  by  his  gestures  and  exclamations,  while  under 
the  lash,  that  he  felt  keenly  the  blows  inflicted,  my 
first  thought  was  that  he  was  coming  with  some  pur 
pose  of  personal  violence,  or,  at  least,  of  abusive 
language.  As  soon  as  my  father  saw  him,  he  stopped, 
turned  his  horse  towards  him,  and  looked  him  steadily 


222  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

in  the  eye.  u  Well,  Squire,"  said  he,  after  a  moment's 
pause,  "  I  have  been  a  good  deal  in  the  law,  but  I 
was  never  so  abused  in  my  life  before.  It  was  too 
bad."  "  Not  a  whit,  not  a  whit,"  was  the  ready  reply. 
"  You  deserved  it  all,  and  more  too."  "  Well,  well," 
said  the  man,  a  little  staggered  at  this  fresh  assault, 
"  It  was  rather  hard  play,  though,  at  any  rate.  But  I 
like  you  all  the  better  for  it ;  and  what  I  want  now 
is  to  engage  you  in  a  suit  I  have  with  another  of  my 
neighbors ;  and  whether  I  win  or  lose,  I  shall  be  con 
tent,  when  the  case  comes  to  trial,  if  you  will  but  put 
it  on  to  him  as  you  have  on  to  me  to-day."  "Do  not 
doubt  it,"  said  my  father,  laughing,  "he  shall  have 
twice  as  much  if  he  deserves  it  half  as  well."  The 
man  now  laughed  in  his  turn,  and  handing  him  a 
retaining  fee,  went  off  quite  satisfied.  "  Now,  here," 
said  my  father,  as  we  rode  away,  "is  a  man  who 
thinks  all  the  better  of  me  for  the  castigation  I 
inflicted  on  him ;  and  is  my  friend  for  life,  if  I  will 
but  treat  his  neighbor  as  severely  as  I  did  him.  Yet, 
after  all,  he  is  not  half  so  bad  as  he  appears  to  be. 
He  is  always  in  the  law,  and  cannot  content  himself 
without  a  suit  in  court.  A  dozen  such  clients  would 
make  a  lawyer's  fortune.  But  he  has  many  good 
qualities.  No  man  would  do  another,  even  his  oppo 
nent,  a  kindness  so.oner  than  he  would.  If  the  law 
turns  up  some  dark  sides  of  human  nature,  it  shows 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  223 

us  also  many  bright  ones.  I  have  not,  on  the  whole, 
learned  to  think  the  worse  of  mankind  for  what  I 
have  seen  in  courts  of  law." 

Other  reminiscences  of  my  own  respecting  his 
character  as  a  lawyer,  might  be  introduced ;  but  they 
would  be  of  less  value  than  the  views  of  older  men, 
who  were  with  him  at  the  bar.  With  many  such  I 
have  conversed,  and  the  remarks  of  some  of  them 
will  be  here  given.  Peyton  II.  Freeman,  of  Ports 
mouth,  told  me  "  that  he  had  often  heard  my  father 
speak  at  the  bar;  that  he  had  much  business,  and 
was  remarkably  successful  with  the  jury.  With  the 
court,  though  not  ostentatious  of  his  law,  he  betrayed 
no  want  of  the  legal  knowledge  pertinent  to  his  case. 
What  he  knew,  he  had  no  difficulty  in  making  others 
understand." 

Another  member  of  the  bar,  John  Porter,  of 
Deny,  told  me,  not  long  since,  that  he  remembered 
hearing  my  father  once  at  the  bar,  soon  after  he  was 
admitted  to  practice.  It  was  in  a  case  of  much  intri 
cacy  of  detail  in  the  facts,  and  some  nicety  in  the 
law.  But  the  facts  were  told  with  such  clearness  and 
animation,  the  law  laid  down  so  plainly,  and  there 
was  so  much  precision,  strength,  and  continuity  of 
aim  and  execution  in  the  whole,  that  he  remembered 
nothing,  he  said,  in  his  fifty  years'  practice,  which 
had  ever  pleased  him  more. 

In  a  letter  dated  January  12,  1854,  from  Nicholas 


224  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

Emery,  a  New  Hampshire  man  by  birth,  late  Judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Maine,  he  writes :  "  Your 
father's  style  of  speaking  at  the  bar  was  very  delib 
erate,  methodical,  cogent,  convincing  and  impressive. 
Whether,  as  a  lawyer,  he  was  much  versed  in  black 
letter  learning,  which  indeed  was  not  then  much  in 
use,  I  cannot  say.  There  was  a  minute  correctness 
in  his  mode  of  doing  business — nothing  unnecessary, 
nothing  deficient,  nothing  out  of  place.  He  was 
very  successful.  Shrewd,  sagacious,  forelaying  and 
calculating  the  effect  of  every  move,  he  seldom 
missed  his  aim.  Of  a  high  order  of  intellect,  he 
understood  human  nature." 

"My  first  acquaintance  with  him,"  says  Moody 
Kent,  in  a  letter  to  me,  dated  March,  1853,  "was  in 
1805,  when  he  was  a  member  of  the  Senate,  and 
sometimes  came  into  the  Common  Pleas  sitting  at 
Exeter,  in  August.  After  his  term  of  office  expired, 
he  attended  that  court,  both  at  Exeter  and  Ports 
mouth,  and  was  engaged  in  the  trial  of  cases.  His 
appearance  and  manner  were  perfectly  plain  and 
simple,  respectful  to  the  court,  gentlemanly  in  his 
demeanor  to  the  senior  members  of  the  bar,  and, 
more  than  others,  affable  and  courteous  to  those  of 
us  who  were  his  juniors.  In  his  addresses  to  the 
court  and  jury  he  was  fluent,  plain,  and  always  intel 
ligible,  never  energetic  in  trifles,  or  earnest  out  of 
place.  His  speeches  were  full  of  good  sense  and  to 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER.  225 

the  point.  At  our  boarding-house  he  made  himself, 
by  his  conversational  powers,  entirely  pleasing  to 
those  of  us  who  gathered  around  him  to  hear  him 
talk.  To  gratify  us,  he  would  frequently  talk  of 
what  passed  in  Congress,  of  the  character  and  history 
of  the  most  prominent  members,  of  their  sayings  and 
doings,  and  of  their  success  or  failure.  Although  he 
was  so  well  listened  to  that  he  must  have  been  aware 
that  we  thought  he  talked  remarkably  well,  yet  he 
was  not  an  ambitious  talker.  If  others  chose  to  con 
verse,  he  listened  patiently  and  respectfully  to  all 
that  was  said,  and  never  talked  himself,  except  to 
willing  listeners." 

George  Sullivan  was  established  at  Exeter  as  early 
as  1794,  and  continued  in  practice  there  till  his  death, 
in  1838.  He  said  to  me,  in  substance :  "Your  father's 
statement  of  facts  to  the  jury  was  admirable, — clear, 
precise,  and  consistent ;  giving  such  prominence  to 
the  circumstances  favorable  to  his  client,  and  throw 
ing  so  artfully  those  of  an  opposite  character  into  the 
shade,  that  the  opposing  counsel  sought  in  vain  to 
make  the  jury  see  them  in  any  other  light.  Another 
characteristic  of  his  speeches  was  their  brevity.  Yet 
he  found  in  them  time  for  the  facts,  the  law,  and  the 
morals  of  the  case.  For  with  the  facts  of  the  law 
he  always  mingled  a  high  sense  of  moral  obligation 
and  responsibility ;  dwelling  strongly  on  the  merits 
of  the  parties,  and  the  duty  of  the  jury  to  do  justice, 


15 


226  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

exact  and  impartial,  between  them.  It  was  a  temple 
of  justice,  high  and  holy,  wherein  they  stood,  into 
which  no  feeling  of  favor  or  aversion,  prejudice  or 
partiality,  should  ever  enter.  From  the  plainest  facts 
and  the  driest  law,  he  rose  insensibly  into  the  higher 
region  of  social  duty  and  moral  obligation ;  and 
thence,  as  naturally,  into  the  yet  more  elevated  do 
main  of  the  emotions.  If  he  stirred  these  in  others  it 
was  because  he  seemed  himself  moved.  It  was  not  (so 
it  seemed)  that  he  sought  artfully  to  inflame  others, 
but  that  he  gave  an  utterance  to  what  they  already 
felt  even  more  strongly  than  he  could  excite  it.  In 
all  this  there  was  no  elaborate  oratory  or  premed 
itated  eloquence.  But  brief,  energetic,  unexpected, 
these  flashes  of  feeling  came,  because,  apparently, 
they  could  not  but  come;  and  having  done  their 
office,  they  passed  as  quickly  away.  There  was  no 
attempt  to  make  the  most  of  a  bright  thought  or 
striking  expression,  as  a  reiteration  of  a  blow  which 
had  already  gone  home  to  the  mark.  It  was  this 
simplicity  and  naturalness  which  gave  the  charm  to 
his  manner.  If  there  was  art  in  this,  it  was  that 
perfection  of  art  which  conceals  itself.  No  idea  of 
affectation  or  insincerity  ever  attached  itself  to  any 
thing  which  he  said  or  did." 

Judge  Smith  gave  me  something  like  the  following 
account :  "  Your  father  made  little  display  of  mere 
legal  learning ;  and  we  sometimes  suspected  that  he 


LIFE     OF  ,  WILLIAM     PLUMER.  227 

had  not  much  of  it  to  spare.  But  he  had  always 
enough  for  the  occasion,  and  it  would  have  been  by 
no  means  safe  in  an  opponent  to  presume  upon  his 
ignorance.  Semper  par  negotiis,  nee  supra.  He  had 
the  command  of  much  more  law  than  some  others 
who  had  laid  in  larger  stocks,  but  had  less  facility  in 
its  use.  What  he  did  know  he  knew  thoroughly. 
Another  trait  was  his  promptness  and  self-possession. 
Of  the  many  good  things  which  occur  to  most  men 
only  when  it  is  too  late  to  utter  them,  he  had  very 
few.  His  good  things  were  all  on  hand ;  his  knowl 
edge  ready  for  use,  and  always  at  his  command.  He 
said,  at  once,  all  he  had  to  say,  and  said  everything 
at  the  right  time  and  place.  He  examined  witnesses 
with  great  skill,  and  put  his  case  in  the  best  possible 
shape  to  the  jury.  He  made  no  long  harangues ;  but 
his  brevity  was  obtained,  not  by  omitting  matter  per 
tinent  to  his  case,  but  by  rejecting  from  it  everything 
which  was  immaterial.  Your  friend  Woodbury  goes 
over  what  he  has  to  say  three  or  four  times;  your 
father  knew  how  to  leave  off  when  he  had  done. 
He  was  fond  of  quoting  Pope ;  and  what  Swift  says 
of  Pope  was  true,  in  some  sense,  of  him : 

<  he  can  in  one  couplet  fix 

More  sense  than  I  can  do  in  six.' 

Not  that  we  were  either  of  us  guilty  of  framing 
couplets  or  perpetrating  rhymes.  We  left  that  to 


228  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

Mitchell  Sewall,  who  made  epigrams  and  acrostics 
on  us  all.  But  he  had,  in  rare  perfection,  the  happy 
art  of  saying  much  in  a  few  words.  This  talent  of 
clear,  concise  and  connected  narrative,  was  best  seen 
when  he  had  a  good  cause  to  state ;  but  he  told  even 
a  bad  story  so  well,  that  scarcely  any  case  seemed 
desperate  under  his  management." 

Judge  Arthur  Livermore  said  to  me:  "Your  father 
had  as  much  law,  when  I  came  to  the  bar,  as  any  man 
then  in  practice  in  Rockingham  or  Strafford.  He  had 
more  than  any  other  man,  if  Lord  Coke's  maxim  be 
true,  that  the  common  law  is  common  sense,  or  com 
mon  reason ;  for  he  had  more  of  that  than  any  other 
man  I  ever  heard  address  a  court  or  jury.  He 
seemed  always  right  in  his  law,  as  if  he  cculd  not 
be  otherwise.  Everything  was  so  clear  in  his  mind, 
and  so  well  defined  in  the  utterance,  that  he  had  no 
occasion  to  repeat,  or  to  enlarge  upon  what  he  had 
once  said.  His  manner  was  quiet,  yet  lively,  with 
no  pomp  or  swell  of  language ;  respectful  to  the 
court  and  confiding  towards  the  jury.  He  won  their 
confidence  by  giving  them  his  own.  He  never  seemed 
to  think  they  could  go  wrong.  They  gave  him  in 
turn  more  than  he  asked,  as  he  often  seemed  to  claim 
less  than  he  was  entitled  to.  This  caution  on  his 
part,  as  if  afraid  of  stating  his  case  too  strongly,  was 
one  of  his  arts  of  oratory.  It  won  for  him,  by  this 
modest  diffidence,  the  good  will  of  his  hearers ;  and 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  229 

when  he  assumed  a  positive  tone,  in  relation  to 
matters  which  were  more  doubtful,  his  previous 
moderation  gave  the  greater  weight  to  his  present 
confidence ;  and  he  carried  the  jury  over  the  weak 
parts  of  his  case  with  wonderful  ease  and  dexterity. 
There  was  not  much  law  in  those  days  among  us,  as 
law  is  now  understood,  but  cases  were  tried  quicker, 
and,  I  think,  quite  as  well.  I  lived  at  Chester  then, 
and  we  were  often  opposed  to  each  other,  sometimes 
not  without  angry  feelings.  But  they  seldom  out 
lasted  the  day.  We  often  slept  in  the  same  room, 
while  at  court ;  and,  after  talking  till  almost  morning, 
he  would  say, '  Enough  of  this,  Livermore,  it  is  time 
to  say  your  prayers,  and  go  to  sleep ; '  and  he  would 
be  himself  asleep  before  he  had  time  to  repeat  a  pater 
nosier.  He  was  sometimes  treated  rudely  at  the  bar, 
as  happens  to  all  men  occasionally,  but  his  coolness 
gave  him  generally  the  advantage;  and  when  pro 
voked,  which  was  not  often,  to  indulge  in  angry 
reply,  the  retort  was  so  rapid,  and  the  repulse  so 
manifest,  that  the  assailant  seldom  came  a  second 
time  to  the  charge."  Judge  Livermore,  at  this  time, 
December,  1852,  was  in  his  eighty-seventh  year,  a 
remarkable  old  man,  his  memory  still  retentive,  and 
his  early  liveliness  of  manner  and  vivacity  of  expres^ 
sion  but  little  impaired. 

Mr.  Mason's  account,  given  to  me  in  more  than  one 
conversation  on  this  subject,  was  somewhat  after  this 


230  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

manner:  "Your  father  was  not  a  thorough-bred 
lawyer,  in  the  sense  of  having  read  everything  writ 
ten  on  the  subject.  But  he  understood  thoroughly 
the  great  principles  of  the  law,  and  had  read  care 
fully,  and  digested  well,  the  elementary  treatises,  the 
standard  authorities,  and  the  best  of  the  old  reporters. 
This  was,  I  think,  the  extent  of  his  law  learning.  He 
supplied  the  want  of  more  minute  subsidiary  learning 
by  an  understanding  at  once  clear  and  logical,  which 
readily  saw  the  consequences  of  an  admitted  princi 
ple,  and  seldom  failed  to  apply  it  justly;  so  that 
when  others  quoted  authorities,  it  was  but  to  support 
conclusions  to  which  he  had  already  arrived.  I 
sometimes  surprised  him  by  a  point  of  law  which 
was  evidently  new  to  him ;  but,  if  a  little  puzzled  at 
first,  he  soon  saw  its  bearings,  what  it  was  worth,  and 
how  it  should  be  applied.  It  was  surprising  to  see 
how  readily  the  new  law-matter  thus  furnished,  fell 
into  its  true  place  in  his  mind,  and  became  at  once  a 
part  of  his  knowledge.  This  knowledge  was  not  so 
much  an  accumulation  of  dead  matter,  as  it  was  an 
organized  body,  compact,  homogeneous,  informed 
with  life  and  motion.  He  was  the  best  jury  lawyer 
I  ever  knew.  His  relation  of  facts,  which  might 
be  called  his  historic  style,  was  inimitable  ;  plain, 
accurate,  and  direct;  free  alike  from  coldness  and 
unnecessary  warmth;  adding  nothing  unimportant, 
and  omitting  nothing  material  to  the  case.  He  made 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  231 

no  pompous  enunciation  of  self-evident  truths,  and 
was  at  no  pains  to  prove  what  he  knew  the  jury 
would  take  for  granted  without  proof.  He  seemed 
sometimes  to  admit  even  more  than  his  opponent 
could  prove.  This  apparent  candor  told  largely  with 
the  jury  in  his  favor;  and  the  admission  generally 
turned  out,  before  the  close  of  the  trial,  to  be  either 
something  which  he  could  not  well  deny,  or  which, 
though  apparently  aiding  the  opposite  party,  made 
in  fact,  when  rightly  considered,  in  his  favor.  His 
line  of  defence  exposed  the  least  possible  front  to  an 
opponent;  and  he  was  as  prompt  to  seize  on  an 
indiscretion  in  others,  as  careful  to  avoid  one  himself. 
With  others  at  the  bar  I  felt,"  added  Mr.  Mason, 
"  pretty  much  at  my  ease ;  but  your  father  and  Judge 
Smith  compelled  me  to  be  more  on  my  guard.  Web 
ster  had  not  then  come  among  us.  Smith  had  the 
greater  learning ;  your  father  the  more  availing  use 
of  what  he  knew.  The  point  in  which  they  most 
resembled  each  other,  wras  the  industry  with  which 
they  prepared  their  cases.  Your  father  was  always 
ready  for  trial;  or,  if  he  asked  for  delay,  it  was 
because  some  material  witness  was  unavoidably 
absent,  or  some  paper  missing  which  he  had  in  vain 
sought  to  obtain ;  never  because  he  was  not  himself 
master  of  his  case." 

With  Mr.  Webster  I  had  several  conversations  on 
this  subject;  the  last  at  Franklin,  where  I  went  to 


232  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

see  him,  July  16,  1852,  a  few  months  before  his 
death.  On  that  occasion  he  said :  "  I  first  heard 
your  father  named  when  I  was  quite  a  boy,  in  1794 
or  '5.  A  cousin  of  my  father's  was  taken  as  a  de 
serter,  by  order  of  Major  Jonathan  Cass,  the  father 
of  Lewis  Cass,  and  carried  a  prisoner  to  Exeter, 
where  Cass  then  resided.  The  charge  was  a  false 
one,  and  my  father  hastened  to  the  relief  of  his 
kinsman.  On  reaching  Nottingham,  he  called  on  his 
friend,  Gen.  Joseph  Cilley,  and  telling  him  his  story, 
said  that  he  was  going  to  Oliver  Peabody,  of  Exeter, 
for  a  writ  against  Cass.  '  Not  so,'  said  Cilley, '  if  you 
go  to  Peabody,  his  dog  will  run  over  to  Cass's  dog  and 
tell  him  what  you  are  doing,  and  your  cousin  may 
be  hurried  over  the  line  into  Massachusetts  before 
your  writ  is  served.  Go  to  Mr.  Plumer,  at  Epping, 
and  he  will  do  your  business  for  you  with  no  risk  of 
failure.'  My  father  told  us  this  story  when  he  came 
back  with  his  cousin ;  and  this  was  the  first  time  I 
ever  heard  of  the  name  of  Plumer.  What  most 
excited  my  curiosity,  however,  and  puzzled  me  at  the 
time,  was  to  know  how  the  dogs  could  talk  over  their 
masters'  business  together,  and  what  they  had  to  do 
with  it.  I  had  not  then  read  Burns's  Tale  of  the  Two 
Dogs,  nor  do  I  suppose  that  Cilley,  who  was  not  a  book 
ish  man,  had  seen  it  when  he  gave  this  quaint  turn 
to  his  shrewd  suggestion  as  to  the  probable  concert 
between  Cass  and  Peabody,  in  the  case  of  the  sup- 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  233 

posed  deserter.  I  first  saw  your  father  in  1801,  at 
Judge  Peabody's,  in  Exeter,  where  he  took  the  lead 
in  a  table  conversation  upon  the  subject  of '  Gibbon's 
Roman  Empire/  which  he  greatly  admired,  yet  with 
a  due  mixture  of  fault-finding.  I  remember  his  also 
speaking  of  the  Edinburgh  Review,  and  of  Mr.  Jeffries, 
both  just  then  becoming  conspicuous.  Your  father 
was  supposed  to  be  good  at  taxing  bills  of  cost.  In  a 
case  where  he  and  Mason,  both  on  the  same  side,  had 
at  last  won  a  long  contested  suit,  the  bill,  taxed  by 
your  father,  and  allowed  by  the  clerk,  was  objected 
to  by  the  opposing  counsel.  Mason,  who  had  a  law 
yer's  liking  for  fees — I  do  not  dislike  them  myself 
— stoutly  defended  the  taxing ;  and,  when  the  court 
struck  out  some  of  the  items,  he  lost  his  temper,  and 
abused  them  roundly  for  it.  Your  father,  seeing  that 
this  was  no  way  to  secure  the  bill,  whispered  to 
Mason  to  keep  cool,  and  said  aloud, '  Perhaps  I  can 
explain  this  better.'  Addressing  himself  to  the  court, 
he  put  them  at  once  into  good  humor  by  some  slight 
reflection  on  his  brother  Mason's  loss  of  temper,  and 
not  only  succeeded  in  preventing  any  further  abate 
ment  of  the  bill  of  costs,  but  restored  the  items 
already  stricken  out,  and  even  got  in  one  or  two 
new  ones.  This,  though  a  small  matter,  was  not  a 
bad  sample  of  his  usual  coolness,  sagacity,  and  power 
of  setting  whatever  he  took  in  hand  in  the  clearest 
possible  light.  The  same  qualities  were  shown  by 


234  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

him  on  more  important  occasions.  In  the  manage- 
ment  of  his  cases  before  the  jury  he  displayed  great 
skill,  in  other  words,  great  knowledge  of  human 
nature.  Indeed,  I  never  knew  a  man  who  put  his 
case  better,  or  who  was  more  uniformly  successful, 
where  there  was  any  tolerable  chance  for  success. 
There  was  a  concentration  of  purpose  in  him  which 
contributed  greatly  to  this  result.  He  never  sacri 
ficed  the  safety  of  his  client  to  oratorical  display; 
nor  indulged  his  resentments  at  the  expense  of  his 
cause,  nor  turned  indeed  for  a  moment  from  the 
great  object  in  view,  the  winning  of  his  verdict  from 
the  jury.  He  put  no  questions  to  witnesses  which 
were  not  calculated  to  bring  out  a  favorable  answer, 
and  used  no  argument  which  was  not  at  once  seen  to 
bear  directly  on  the  point  to  be  established.  Neglect 
ing  all  minor  objects,  he  struck  boldly  at  the  heart 
of  the  matter;  told  his  story  without  repetition,  or 
exaggeration,  and  so  clearly,  that  nobody  could  mis 
take  or  misunderstand  him.  Once  stated,  indeed, 
his  case  was  already,  by  the  mere  statement,  well 
argued.  When  the  occasion  required  it,  he  could 
touch  powerfully  the  chords  of  feeling  in  the  breasts 
of  the  jury,  with  the  slightest  apparent  effort  on  his 
own  part, — sometimes  with  the  thrilling  intonation 
of  a  single  word,  a  look,  a  gesture,  the  cast  of  his  eye, 
suffused  with  tears  at  the  misfortunes  of  his  clients, 
or  fired  with  anger  or  indignation  at  the  injustice, 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  235 

the ,  t yranny,  the  insufferable  baseness  of  his  oppo 
nent  and  oppressor.  It  was  the  eloquence  of  feeling, 
rather  than  of  the  fancy  or  imagination; — of  the 
latter,  except  as  connected  with  feeling,  he  did  not 
seem  to  me  to  possess  much. " 

Wit  is  often  among  the  lawyer's  most  successful 
weapons.  My  father  could  hardly  be  said,  in  the 
ordinary  sense  of  the  word,  to  be  a  man  of  wit.  Yet 
he  said  things  which  no  wit  could  improve,  and  no 
humor  render  more  effective.  In  those  keen  retorts, 
those  pithy  and  pointed  sentences,  which  strike  home 
and  admit  of  no  reply,  which  rouse  the  feelings  while 
they  convince  the  understanding,  he  was  always 
ready.  On  such  occasions  the  flash  of  his  eye  showed 
whence  the  lightning  had  parted,  and  the  smile, 
which  curled  his  lip,  evinced  his  perception  that  the 
bolt  had  not  missed  its  aim.  If,  in  such  cases,  the  wit 
was  less  observed,  the  argument  was  the  more  strongly 
felt.  The  power  thus  to  condense  a  long  speech  into 
a  brief  sentence, — to  coil  up,  as  it  were,  a  whole  argu 
ment  into  a  single  word,  and  send  that  word  home  to 
its  mark,  where  it  shall  explode  in  a  charge  from  the 
court,  or  a  verdict  from  the  jury, — is  the  rare  attri 
bute  of  the  eloquent  and  effective  speaker.  This 
felicity  of  speech  and  concentration  of  thought,  were 
at  the  farthest  possible  remove  from  that  vague  and 
indefinite  utterance,  that  copious  effusion  of  words 
without  ideas,  with  which  so  many  public  speakers 


236  LIFE    OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

seem  afflicted.  It  rested,  in  his  case,  on  the  firm 
basis  of  accurate  knowledge,  and  thorough  previous 
preparation.  He  did  not  think  it  sufficient  to  have  a 
general  idea  of  his  cause,  and  trust  to  chance,  or  a 
happy  flight  of  oratory  to  carry  him  through ;  but  he 
made  himself  master  of  its  details,  and  familiar  with 
the  law  applicable  to  it.  This  he  did  in  cases  even 
the  least  important.  If  they  were  worth  carrying 
into  court,  he  thought  them  worth  the  best  attention 
he  could  bestow  upon  them. 

The  practice  of  the  law  in  his  earlier  days  was  cal 
culated  to  make  able  advocates,  rather  than  learned 
jurists.  Both  court  and  jury  were,  as  I  have  already 
remarked,  more  inclined  to  make  than  to  find  the 
law  of  the  case.  My  father  was  among  the  first  to 
perceive  the  necessity  of  a  closer  adherence  to 
established  rules.  He  left  the  courts,  however, 
while  the  change  was  as  yet  but  imperfectly  accom 
plished.  But  a  revolution  was  in  progress,  which 
ended  in  establishing  more  precise  maxims  of 
practice  and  strict  principles  of  law  in  New  Hamp 
shire,  than  prevailed,  perhaps,  in  any  state  of  the 
Union.  Mr.  Webster,  after  having  practised  in  the 
courts  of  many  states,  said,  "that  he  had  never 
found  any  place  where  the  law  was  administered 
with  so  much  precision  and  exactness  as  in  the 
County  of  Buckingham."  "  Special  pleading  had  not 
then,"  says  Chief  Justice  Parker,  in  commenting 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER  237 

on  this  remark,  "been  shorn  of  its  honors,  by  brief 
statements  and  informal  answers."  At  one  time, 
indeed,  there  was  a  strictness  of  practice  here,  hardly 
compatible  with  the  ends  of  justice;  but  the  ten 
dency  has  since  been  to  that  happy  medium  in 
which  fixed  rule  takes  the  place  of  arbitrary  dis 
cretion,  while  justice,  though  regular,  is  yet  not 
tangled  in  the  net  of  form. 

Of  the  extent  of  my  father's  business  while  at  the 
bar,  and  the  consequent  amount  of  his  emoluments, 
it  is  not  easy  now  to  form  an  accurate  estimate.  His 
account-books  of  this  period  were  destroyed  by  him 
many  years  ago,  with  a  multitude  of  other  papers, 
which  he  considered  it  no  longer  necessary  to  pre 
serve.  In  the  counties  of  Rockingham  and  Stratford, 
then  embracing  the  business  of  more  than  half  the 
state,  he  was  for  many  years  concerned  in  more  suits 
than  any  other  lawyer.  But  lawyers'  fees  were  then 
much  lower  than  at  present.  Even  now  they  are  not 
considered  by  the  profession  as  high,  and  certainly 
are  not  so,  when  compared  with  those  in  some  other 
states.  Webster,  after  his  removal  to  Boston,  received 
in  single  cases,  probably,  more  than  his  net  income 
for  a  year  of  labor  in  New  Hampshire.  Mason  once 
said  to  me :  «  The  Boston  people  pay  well  for  pro 
fessional  services.  It  is  not  a  bad  trait  in  their 
character,  and  I  rather  encourage  them  in  it.  Your 
father  and  I  did  business  enough  in  our  day  to  make 


238  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

us  rich ;  but,  in  New  Hampshire,  much  is  done  for  a 
little  money.  No  man  gets  rich  there  by  professional 
services."  My  father,  though  he  owned  a  half-finished 
house  and  some  land,  was  in  debt  when  he  was  admit 
ted  to  the  bar.  He  told  Judge  Livermore,  in  1797, 
that  his  business  wras  then  worth  four  thousand  dol 
lars  a  year.  To  have  earned  this,  Livermore  supposed 
he  could  not  have  made  less  than  five  hundred  writs 
annually.  The  courts  sat  four  times  a  year,  and  he 
once  told  me  that  he  had  entered  a  hundred  actions 
at  a  term.  He  was  not  indifferent  to  money ;  for  he 
knew  that  no  man  could  be  truly  independent  with 
out  it,  and  that  without  independence  there  is  little 
security  for  happiness,  and  not  much  for  virtue.  Yet 
he  had  so  little  of  the  miser  in  his  disposition,  that, 
for  the  last  forty  years  of  his  life,  he  did  nothing  in 
the  way  of  money-making.  He  took  care  of  what 
he  had  already  earned,  but  felt  no  desire  to  increase 
it, — so  that  at  his  death  his  property  was  no  greater 
than  when  he  left  the  bar.  His  habits  of  living  were 
prudent,  but  not  parsimonious;  free  from  profusion 
on  the  one  hand,  and  meanness  on  the  other.  There 
was  no  ostentatious  display  of  wealth  in  person, 
equipage,  or  attendance ;  but  use,  comfort  and  con 
venience  were  consulted  in  his  arrangements;  and 
the  friend,  or  the  stranger,  who  visited  him,  found  a 
ready  hospitality,  a  simplicity,  an  abundance,  and  a 
cordiality  of  welcome,  which  supplied  every  wrant, 
and  left  no  doubt  of  the  host's  sincerity. 


CHAPTER     VII. 

THE    SENATOR. 

THE  civil  revolution,  which  gave  the  power  of  the 
general  government  to  the  Republican  party,  was 
consummated  by  the  inauguration  of  Thomas  Jeffer 
son  as  President,  and  Aaron  Burr  as  Vice  President, 
on  the  4th  of  March,  1801.  The  leading  measures 
of  the  Federal  party, — the  funding  system,  the  bank, 
the  proclamation  of  neutrality,  Jay's  treaty,  the  inter 
nal  taxes,  the  army,  the  navy,  the  alien  and  sedition 
laws, — had  all  of  them  been  more  or  less  unpopular. 
The  strong  personal  popularity  of  Washington  alone 
secured  to  the  measures  of  his  administration  a  major 
ity  in  either  House  of  Congress.  While  nearly  all 
professed  unbounded  admiration  for  the  person  of  the 
President,  a  strong  and  increasing  opposition  mani 
fested  itself  to  his  leading  measures ;  many  of  which 
were  carried  by  small  majorities,  often  by  the  casting 
vote  of  the  Vice  President  in  the  Senate,  and  in  the 
House,  on  several  occasions,  on  nearly  as  close  a 
division.  On  the  retirement  of  Washington,  the  great 
abilities,  high  public  spirit,  and  patriotic  services  of 
his  successor  were  unequal  to  the  task  of  opposing 


240  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

successfully  the  current  of  public  opinion,  setting 
strongly  in  favor  of  the  doctrines  and  the  policy,  the 
men  and  the  measures,  of  the  Republican  party.  The 
inaugural  address  of  Mr.  Jefferson  was,  indeed,  so 
moderate  in  its  tone,  and  so  well  received  by  all 
parties,  that  the  whole  Senate  went  in  a  body,  har 
monious,  in  appearance  at  least,  to  pay  their  respects 
to  the  President  and  Vice  President,  and  were  re 
ceived,  says  Mr.  Bayard,  "  with  very  decent  respect," 
the  Federalists  professing  their  willingness  to  support 
the  government,  if  administered  upon  the  principles 
of  that  address.  But  though  Mr.  Jefferson  had  said 
in  his  address,  "  We  are  all  Republicans,  we  are  all 
Federalists,"  it  was  not  possible  that  parties  so  hostile 
in  feeling,  and  so  adverse  in  opinion  and  practice, 
could  act  harmoniously  together.  Both  were  too 
earnest  and  sincere,  the  one  to  withhold  the  expres 
sion  of  their  opinions,  the  other  to  forego  the  exer 
cise  of  their  power  in  the  line  of  their  opinions. 

The  first  session  of  Congress,  under  the  new  rule, 
had  been  signalized  by  some  reduction  of  the  army 
and  the  navy,  the  repeal  of  the  internal  taxes,  an 
increased  provision  for  the  public  debt,  a  return  to 
the  naturalization  law  of  1795,  and  the  repeal  of  the 
late  judiciary  act.  This  last  was  regarded  as  the 
great  measure  of  the  session,  involving  questions  of 
constitutional  power,  as  well  as  of  expediency.  These, 
with  the  removal  of  some  Federalists  from  office,  and 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  241 

the  appointment  of  Republicans  in  their  places,  were 
the  chief  changes  which  had  yet  followed  the  election 
of  the  new  President.  A  second  session  was  now 
about  to  commence. 

The  journey  from  New  Hampshire  to  Washington 
was  not  usually  performed,  at  this  time,  in  less  than 
ten  or  twelve  days.  In  the  feeble  state  of  my  father's 
health,  this  journey  excited  in  his  mind  apprehen 
sions,  which  we  should  hardly  have  expected  in  one 
of  his  resolute  temper  and  active  habits.  For  fifteen 
years  he  had  been  nearly  half  his  time  away  from 
home ;  but  never  for  more  than  a  week  or  two  at  a 
time ;  and  seldom  so  far  off,  but  that  he  could  return 
in  a  single  day.  A  service  of  three  or  four  months, 
five  hundred  miles  from  home,  put  his  local  attach 
ments  and  domestic  feelings  to  a  severe  test.  My 
mother,  who  was  still  more  domestic  in  her  habits, 
would  have  thought  the  leaving  of  five  children  to 
the  care  of  strangers  for  so  long  a  period,  little  less 
than  a  crime.  "  On  leaving  my  family,"  he  says,  "and 
parting  with  my  oldest  son,  then  at  Exeter,  I  was 
much  affected.  The  length  of  the  journey,  the  uncer 
tainty  how  the  climate  and  mode  of  living  would 
agree  with  me,  and  what  changes  might  happen  in 
my  family,  produced  feelings  I  never  before  experi 
enced."  He  left  Epping  on  the  18th  of  November, 
and  reached  Washington  on  the  second  of  the  follow 
ing  month.  In  a  letter  to  Judge  Smith,  (December 
9th,  1802,)  he  says, 


1G 


242  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK. 

"I  arrived  here  last  Friday,  much  less  fatigued  than  I 
expected.  The  journey  was  easy,  and  gave  me  the  pleasure 
that  results  from  eating  with  the  appetite  of  a  hungry  man — 
a  pleasure  to  which  till  then  I  was  a  stranger.  The  next  day 
after  my  arrival  I  visited  the  President,  accompanied  by  some 
Democratic  members.  In  a  few  moments  after  our  arrival,  a 
tall,  high-boned  man  came  into  the  room.  He  was  dressed, 
or  rather  undressed,  in  an  old  brown  coat,  red  waistcoat,  old 
corduroy  small  clothes  much  soiled,  woollen  hose,  and  slip 
pers  without  heels.  I  thought  him  a  servant,  when  General 
Varnum  surprised  me  by  announcing  that  it  was  the  President. 
I  tarried  with  him  about  twenty  minutes.  He  was  easy  of 
access,  and  conversed  with  great  ease  and  freedom.  While  I 
was  there,  Thomas  Paine  entered,  seated  himself  by  the  side 
of  the  President,  and  conversed  and  behaved  towards  him 
with  the  familiarity  of  an  intimate  and  an  equal !  Can  virtue 
receive  sufficient  protection  from  an  administration  which 
admits  such  men  as  Paine  to  terms  of  intimacy  with  its 
chief?" 

This  intimacy  of  Jefferson  with  Paine  seems  to 
have  struck  him  very  unfavorably.  He  adverts  to  it 
in  several  of  his  letters.  To  T.  W.  Thompson,  he 
speaks  of  him  as,  "that  outrageous  blasphemer."  To 
D.  Lawrence,  he  writes,  (December  27th,)  "The 
President,  in  his  message,  informs  us  of  our  quiet 
enjoyment  of  our  religion ;  at  the  same  time  that  he 
has  had  the  effrontery  to  invite  that  infamous  blas 
phemer,  Thomas  Paine,  from  France  to  this  country, 
and  even  to  give  him  a  passage  in  a  national  vessel. 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEE.  243 

He  admits  him  freely  and  frequently  to  his  house 
and  his  table."  To  Jeremiah  Mason,  he  wrote,  "Brad 
ley  (as  Vice  President  pro  tem.^)  is  giving  dinners; 
and  in  imitation  of  the  President,  admits  that  mis 
creant  Paine  to  his  table.  Neither  Jefferson  nor 
Bradley  invites  Federalists  to  dine  with  Paine.  In 
this  they  show  their  prudence."  Paine's  merits,  in 
the  eyes  of  his  admirers,  were  supposed  to  be  two 
fold;  his  attacks  on  Christianity,  and  his  abuse  of 
Washington.  My  father,  admitting  the  force  of  some 
of  Paine's  objections,  had  read  his  "Age  of  Reason" 
with  unqualified  disapprobation  of  its  tone  and 
temper,  its  coarse  vulgarity,  and  its  unfair  appeals 
to  the  passions  and  the  prejudices  of  his  readers. 
With  his  attacks  on  "Mr.  Washington,"  he  had,  if 
possible,  less  sympathy.  Hence  the  surprise  and 
indignation  with  which  he  saw  such  a  man  courted 
by  the  President,  and  received  with  distinction  as  a 
guest  at  the  presidential  mansion.  It  deepened  his 
prejudices  against  Mr.  Jefferson,  already  sufficiently 
strong.  Bred  a  Federalist,  in  the  school  of  Wash 
ington,  he  had  been  taught  to  regard  Mr.  Jefferson 
as  a  man  of  loose  morals  and  erroneous  political 
opinions,  and  looked  with  great  distrust  on  the 
measures  and  policy  of  his  administration. 

He  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate  on  the  first  day  of 
the  session,  (December  2d,  1802, )  but  was  not  able 
to  take  the  affirmation  of  office,  till  the  14th,  when 


244  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

the  two  Houses  were  organized.  Congress  not  having 
then  acquired  that  habit  of  punctuality,  which  now 
always  secures  a  quorum  of  both  Houses  the  first 
day  of  the  session.  The  leading  Republicans  in  the 
Senate  were  Clinton  of  New  York,  Nicholas  of  Vir 
ginia,  Baldwin  of  Georgia,  and  Breckenridge  of 
Kentucky;  the  leading  Federalists,  Tracy  and  Hill- 
house  of  Connecticut,  Morris  of  New  York,  and  Ross 
of  Pennsylvania.  The  administration  had  a  decided 
majority  in  both  houses,  and  was  able  therefore  to 
carry  any  measure  on  which  its  friends  were  united. 
The  strength  of  the  executive  department  was  chiefly 
in  three  men, — Jefferson,  the  President,  Madison,  the 
Secretary  of  State,  and  Gallatin,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury, — a  combination  of  talent,  power,  and  popu 
larity,  not  often  surpassed  in  the  administration  of 
the  government. 

The  slow  progress  of  business  through  the  Senate 
left  my  father  much  leisure,  which,  with  his  usual 
industry,  he  employed  in  making  himself  acquainted 
with  the  new  scenes  into  which  he  was  introduced, 
and  the  distinguished  actors  on  this  more  extended 
theatre.  He  began  with  exploring  the  city  itself  and 
its  environs.  Washington  was  then  "  a  little  village 
in  the  midst  of  the  woods."  "  It  contains,"  he  said, 
"  many  fine  sites  for  buildings,  but  comparatively  few 
houses,  and  those  not  compact."  This  city  of  magni- 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  245 

ficent  distances  was  indeed  then  little  better  than  a 
wilderness ;  with  few  of  the  conveniences,  and  hardly 
all  the  necessaries  of  civilized  and  refined  life.  He 
explored  with  greater  eagerness  the  congressional 
library  •  which,  though  not  large,  contained  many 
valuable  works  in  history,  politics  and  international 
law,  to  which  he  had  not  before  had  access.  He  de 
voted  much  time,  during  this  and  the  succeeding 
sessions,  to  the  reading  of  books  which  he  found  here, 
making  copious  extracts,  and,  in  some  cases,  abstracts 
of  their  contents.  He  did  not  however  neglect,  for 
books,  the  acquaintance  of  men.  The  violence  of 
party  spirit  made  the  members,  at  this  time,  unsocial, 
and  even  uncivil  to  one  another.  Federalists  and  Re 
publicans  not  only  boarded  in  different  houses,  but 
seldom  visited  or  associated  together.  "Men,"  said 
Jefferson,  speaking  of  an  earlier  period,  "  who  have 
been  intimate  all  their  lives,  cross  the  street  to  avoid 
meeting,  and  turn  their  heads  another  way,  lest  they 
should  be  obliged  to  touch  their  hats."  He  had  not 
himself  been  able  to  introduce  a  better  state  of  feel 
ing.  This  social  intolerance  was  very  distasteful  to 
my  father.  In  a  letter  to  my  mother,  (Dec.  25th,) 
he  says : 

"  Yesterday,  T  dined  with  the  President.  His  rule  is  to 
have  about  ten  members  of  Congress  at  a  time.  We  sat  down 
to  the  table  at  four,  rose  at  six,  and  walked  immediately  into 


246  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

another  room,  and  drank  coffee.  We  had  a  very  good  dinner, 
with  a  profusion  of  fruits  and  sweetmeats.  The  wine  was  the 
best  I  ever  drank,  particularly  the  champagne,  which  was 
indeed  delicious.  I  wish  his  French  politics  were  as  good  as 
his  French  wines  ;  but  to  me,  at  least,  they  have  by  no  means 
so  exquisite  a  flavor.  At  these  dinners,  the  President  has 
always  a  select  company  ;  all  federalists  one  day,  all  demo 
crats  another.  He  ought  to  invite  them  without  regard  to 
their  political  sentiments.  The  members  of  both  parties, 
meeting  at  the  President's,  would  be  under  the  necessity  of 
being  civil  to  each  other  there,  and  would  thence  learn  to  treat 
each  other  with  more  decency  and  respect  in  congress  than 
they  now  do.  The  more  men  of  good  hearts  associate,  the 
better  they  think  of  each  other,  notwithstanding  their  differ 
ences  of  opinion." 

Having  himself  little  of  the  party  rancor,  out  of 
which  such  alienation  had  grown,  he  labored  to  break 
through  these  unsocial  barriers.  Before  the  close  of 
the  session,  he  was  upon  speaking  terms  with  nearly 
all  the  members  of  both  houses,  and  intimate  with 
many  of  the  most  distinguished  of  both  parties.  His 
mind  could  not  fail  to  be  improved,  and  his  views 
modified  and  enlarged  by  this  enlargement  of  his 
sphere  of  vision  and  range  of  thought.  He  was  a 
Federalist,  with  a  full  share  of  party  feeling.  But  he 
was  not  a  mere  party  man ;  and  would  not  follow 
blindly  any  party  leader.  In  the  case  of  private 
claims,  "  I  am  not  sensible,"  he  writes,  "  that  party 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK.  247 

considerations  had  any  influence  on  my  mind.  On 
these  I  voted  as  often  with  the  Republicans  as  with 
the  Federalists."  He  acted  indeed  in  this,  as  in  other 
cases,  under  a  sense  of  moral  obligation. 

He  wrote  many  political  letters,  during  this  session, 
to  his  friends  in  New  Hampshire,  with  too  close 
a  party  reference  and  purpose,  as  he  afterwards 
thought.  "  Being  in  the  minority,  I  was,"  he  says, 
"  too  much  inclined  to  find  fault  with  the  measures 
of  the  majority,  and  thought  the  principal  service  I 
could  render  my  country  was  to  prevent  the  adoption 
of  their  measures."  Extracts  from  some  of  these 
letters  may  be  interesting,  either  for  the  facts  they 
contain,  or  the  opinions  they  expresss. 

To  D.  Lawrence  of  Epping,  December  27,  1802  : 

"  The  southern  Democrats  fear  New  England  Federalism. 
Though,  our  numbers  are  small,  we  are  both  feared  and 
respected.  We  can  seldom  carry  any  measure;  but  we  pre 
vent  the  ruling  party  from  doing  much  mischief.  I  consider 
the  steady  habits  and  Federalism  of  the  Eastern  states  as  the 
sheet  anchor  and  political  salvation  of  the  nation." 

To  T.  W.  Thompson  of  Salisbury,  January,  1803  : 

"  Though  few,  we  are  a  check  upon  the  ruling  party.  The 
longer  I  am  here,  the  more  sensibly  I  feel  the  necessity  of 
preserving,  if  possible,  the  Federalism  of  New  England,  as  a 
restraint  upon  Southern  Democracy.  The  good  sense  and 
steady  habits  of  the  Eastern  states  will  be  the  means  of  pre- 


248  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER 

serving   our  liberties,  if  they  are  to  survive  the  violence  of 
parties." 

He  wrote,  during  this  session,  frequently  to 
Thompson  ;  and  Daniel  Webster,  who  was  then  a 
student  in  his  office,  told  me,  many  years  after,  how 
eagerly  he  himself  awaited  the  arival,  once  a  week, 
of  the  post,  in  hope  of  a  letter  from  Washington,  and, 
when  it  came,  how  earnest  the  little  knot  of  village 
politicians  were  to  learn  its  contents.  Thompson  was 
afterwards  himself  Senator  in  Congress. 

To  Nicholas  Emery  of  Parsonsfield,  afterwards 
Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Maine,  January, 
1803  : 

"  The  Democratic  party  want  an  acknowledged,  bold  and 
determined  leader  in  the  House.  Giles  is  sick  at  home.  John 
Randolph,  a  pale,  meagre,  ghostly  man,  has  more  popular  and 
effective  talents  than  any  other  member  of  the  party ;  but 
Smith,  Nicholson,  Davis  and  others  are  unwilling  to  acknowl 
edge  him  as  their  file-leader.  The  Federalists,  though  in  a 
minority,  are  yet  in  talents,  industry,  and  respectability,  supe 
rior  to  their  opponents.  I  think  the  session  will  end  without 
violent  measures." 

To  Mr.  Mason,  under  the  same  date : 

"  Griswold  of  Connecticut,  is  at  the  head  of  the  Federalists 
in  the  House.  He  is  a  man  of  talents,  industry,  and  applica 
tion,  and  of  a  most  amiable  disposition.  Bayard  has  not  yet 
arrived.  The  Democrats  feel  the  absence  of  Giles.  Randolph 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  249 

has  more  talent  than  any  other  man  of  that  party ;  but  they 
are  unwilling  to  own  a  leader,  who  has  the  appearance  of  a 
beardless  boy  more  than  of  a  full  grown  man.  The  session  is 
wasting  away,  and,  though  we  have  done  no  good,  we  have 
not  committed  much  evil.  The  little  Burr  has  not  yet 
appeared." 

To  John  Taylor  Oilman,  January  18th,  1803 : 

"  The  President  has  nominated  James  Munroe,  Envoy  Ex 
traordinary  to  the  Courts  of  Paris  and  Madrid,  to  treat,  in 
conjunction  with  our  ministers  there,  upon  the  navigation  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  the  purchase  of  Louisiana.  To  this 
appointment  there  was  a  serious  but  unavailing  opposition  in 
the  Senate.  The  vote  was  fifteen  to  twelve.  The  Senate  do 
not  decide  whether  the  mission  is  necessary.  The  President 
alone  is  considered  responsible  for  that.  They  decide  only 
on  the  qualifications  of  the  man,  not  on  the  propriety  of  the 
measure.  Yet  the  man  whom  Washington,  after  a  full  trial, 
thought  it  necessary  to  recall  from  France,  is  again  appointed 
to  the  same  court,  a  court  which  holds  in  contempt  the 
Jacobins  to  whom  he  was  then  so  much  attached.  But  the 
measures  of  Washington  are  to  be  reviled,  his  admirers 
wounded,  and  a  new  order  of  things  established.  The  more 
I  see  and  know  of  these  men,  the  more  I  am  confirmed  in  the 
opinion  that  the  Federalists  are  the  real  friends  of  their 
country,  and  their  measures  the  best  calculated  so  secure  its 
peace  and  prosperity." 

The  most  important  subject  which  came  before 
Congress  this  session,  was  the  refusal  of  the  right  of 


250  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

deposit  at  New  Orleans,  by  the  Spanish  authorities 
there.  By  the  treaty  of  1795,  with  Spain,  it  was 
stipulated  that  the  United  States  should  be  allowed 
"  to  deposit  their  merchandise  and  effects  in  the  port 
of  New  Orleans,  and  export  them  thence,  without  any 
other  duty  than  a  fair  price  for  the  hire  of  stores." 
The  Spanish  Intendant  had  issued  a  proclamation 
(October  16,  1802,)  taking  away  the  right  till  then 
possessed,  and  assigning  no  other  place  of  deposit  on 
the  river.  The  uneasiness  produced  by  this  measure 
among  the  people  wrest  of  the  mountains,  who,  from  a 
few  inconsiderable  settlements,  had  increased  to  half  a 
million  of  inhabitants,  was  great  and  universal ;  and 
it  was  evident  that  some  remedy  for  the  wrong  sus 
tained  must  at  once  be  supplied.  The  remedy  pro 
posed  by  the  Federalists  was  to  seize  at  once  on  New 
Orleans,  by  force  of  arms,  before  it  should  be  taken 
possession  of  by  France,  to  whom  the  country  had 
just  before  been  ceded  by  Spain.  "France,"  said 
Morris,  "  will  not  sell  this  territory.  If  we  want  it, 
we  must  adopt  the  Spartan  policy,  and  obtain  it  by 
steel,  not  by  gold."  The  President,  on  the  contrary, 
was  in  favor  of  the  more  pacific  policy  of  negotiation, 
and  purchase  of  territory.  The  House  passed  resolu 
tions  expressing  their  determination  to  maintain  the 
rights  secured  by  the  treaty,  and  referring  the  whole 
subject  to  the  action  of  the  President.  In  the  Senate, 
Ross  of  Pennsylvania  offered  resolutions  (February 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  251 

10,  1803,)  authorizing  the  President  to  take  posses 
sion  of  New  Orleans,  and  for  that  purpose  to  call 
out,  if  necessary,  fifty  thousand  of  the  militia  cf  the 
adjoining  states;  to  pay  the  expenses  of  which,  he 
proposed  that  five  millions  should  be  appropriated. 
As  a  substitute  for  these,  Breckenridge  of  Kentucky 
moved  resolutions,  February  23d,  referring  the  sub 
ject  to  the  President,  with  authority  to  call  on  the 
Governors  of  the  states  for  eighty  thousand  volun 
teers,  to  be  held  in  readiness  to  inarch  at  the  order  of 
the  President.  After  an  animated  debate,  Ross's 
resolutions  were  stricken  out,  by  a  strictly  party 
vote,  and  those  of  Breckenridge  were  then  unani 
mously  adopted.  A  law  was  soon  after  passed  to 
carry  them  into  effect.  By  another  law,  passed  in 
secret  session,  two  millions  were  appropriated  for  the 
extraordinary  expenses  of  the  foreign  intercourse, 
with  a  view  to  the  purchase  of  the  island  of  New 
Orleans  and  West  Florida. 

The  following  extracts  of  letters  show  my 
father's  views  on  this  subject.  To  Jeremiah  Smith, 
January  9th: 

"  On  the  4tli  of  December,  the  President  stated  to  me  per 
sonally  the  fact  of  the  violation  of  our  treaty  with  Spain,  but 
in  his  annual  message  of  the  15th  to  Congress,  he  takes  no 
notice  of  it.  The  truth,  if  exhibited  in  this  case,  would  have 
disfigured  the  beauty  of  his  picture  of  peace  and  prosperity, 


252  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

and  presented  some  things  to  excite  our  fears  as  well  as  our 
hopes.  Congress  ought  to  publish  a  declaration  that  Spam 
has  violated  her  plighted  £iith ;  to  authorize  the  President  to 
raise  a  provisional  army,  and  to  man  and  equip  our  little 
navy  ;  and,  in  case  negotiation  should  not  succeed,  to  take 
possession  of  New  Orleans.  Indeed,  I  think  we  should  be 
justified  in  immediately  seizing  on  that  city.  But  the  raJing 
party  are  alarmed,  and  have  not  resolution  to  act.  They  fear 
the  approaching  election.  Randolph  said  the  other  day  in 
the  House,  (  The  Federalists  wish  to  drive  us  into  a  war,  to 
dissipate  our  treasures,  and  obtain  for  themselves  the  direction 
of  the  government.'  This  declaration  is  strong  proof  of  the 
fears  of  the  administration.  They  fear  that  bold  and  decisive 
measures  will  produce  war,  .and  that  taxes,  increased  ditties, 
and  new  loans  will  follow.  How  contemptible  and  wretched 
is  the  man,  who,  at  the  expense  of  honor  and  conscience, 
obtains  an  office,  and  cannot  then  pursue  his  own  course,  but 
must  adopt  such  measures  as  will  please  the  unthinking  pop 
ulace  !  From  such  a  disposition,  and  from  an  office  thus 
obtained,  Good  Lord  deliver  me  !  " 

To  the  same,  February  16  : 

"  Mr.  Ross  introduced  his  resolutions  to  the  Senate  in  a 
speech  of  nearly  two  hours,  far  exceeding  anything  I  ever 
witnessed  in  a  deliberate  assembly,  not  abounding  in  tropes 
and  figures,  and  the  flowers  of  rhetoric,  such  as  flow  with  so 
much  ease  and  grace  from  the  lips  of  Governeur  Morris,  but  a 
continued  chain  of  reasoning,  forcibly  addressing  itself  both  to 
the  heart  and  the  understanding." 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  253 

To  T.  W,  Thompson,  February  18th: 

"  You  have  seen  an  account  of  the  weak  and  feeble  meas 
ures  that  the  administration  have  adopted,  respecting  the 
violation  of  the  Spanish  treaty.  The  Federalists  were  for 
taking  immediate  possession  of  New  Orleans,  and  using  it,  as 
our  treaty  provides,  for  a  place  of  deposit.  Enclosed  are  Mr. 
Ross's  resolutions.  His  introductory  speech  was  one  of  the 
ablest  I  ever  heard.  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  admin 
istration  is  divided  upon  this  subject.  From  the  chief,  a  man 
of  weak  nerves,  we  have  no  right  to  expect  energetic  action. 
Wavering,  indecisive,  half-way  measures  will  probably  be  the 
result.  The  measures  debated  and  adopted  in  conclave  would, 
if  known,  alarm  considerate,  reflecting  Democrats.  A  Com 
mittee  of  the  House  has  this  day  reported  that  Judge  Pick 
ering,  of  New  Hampshire,  be  impeached  of  high  crimes  and 
misdemeanors  in  office.  In  conversation  with  the  President, 
this  day,  he  said  to  me  :  '  It  will  take  two  years  to  try  this 
impeachment.  The  Constitution  ought  to  be  altered,  so  that 
the  President  should  be  authorized  to  remove  a  Judge  from 
office,  on  the  address  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress.' ' 

Speaking  at  a  later  period  on  this  subject  of  the 
right  of  deposit  at  New  Orleans,  my  father  wrote : 
"  After  hearing  the  arguments  on  both  sides,  and  con 
sidering  the  subject,  I  had  some  doubts  of  the  pro 
priety  of  adopting  Ross's  resolutions ;  but  my  pride 
was  enlisted  in  their  support ;  for  I  had  early  written 
to  some  of  my  correspondents  that  I  was  in  favor  of 


254  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

them.  Party  considerations  had  also  an  influence  on 
my  mind ;  and  I  reluctantly  voted  against  striking 
them  out."  This  was  the  first  very  important  matter, 
during  the  session,  in  which  a  strong  party  feeling 
manifested  itself  in  the  Senate,  and  though  on  the 
main  question  he  had  hardly  independence  enough 
to  break  at  once  from  his  party,  and  from  his  own 
previous  declarations,  he  showed,  on  an  incidental 
question,  that  he  could  act,  as  well  as  think,  inde 
pendently  of  party  dictation.  After  two  or  three 
days  spent  in  debate,  the  Federal  Senators  had 
agreed,  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  not  to  vote 
for  an  adjournment  till  the  question  was  taken. 
Mason  of  Virginia,  stating  that  he  wished  to  speak, 
but  from  ill  health  could  not  do  it,  at  that  late  hour, 
moved  an  adjournment. 

"  I  thought,"  wrote  my  father,  f-  the  request  reasonable, 
and  voted  for  it.  Governeur  Morris  was  offended,  and 
privately  censured  me  for  my  vote.  I  told  him  I  had  acted 
towards  Mason  as  I  should  have  wished  him  to  act  towards 
me  ;  and  that,  on  so  important  a  subject,  I  was  willing  to 
spend  another  day.  He  replied  :  '  When  a  man  has  resolved 
to  act  only  according  to  the  convictions  of  his  own  mind,  the 
party  to  which  he  belongs  can  never  depend  upon  his  sup 
port  ;  and  I  shall  not  be  surprised,  if,  in  a  few  years,  you  act 
more  like  a  Eepublican  than  a  Federalist.'  I  replied,  that  I 
could  not  say  what  I  might  hereafter  become  ;  but  I  trusted 
I  should  never  act  contrary  to  my  own  judgment,  to  support 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  255 

either  party.  He  said,  '  No  man  can  maintain  in  political 
life  such  an  independent  course.'  I  replied,  fl  shall  fail 
then  as  a  public  man,  and  return  again  to  private  life.' ' 

Federal  in  his  opinions,  lie  acted  generally  with 
his  party;  but,  independent  in  his  judgments,  he 
allowed  no  one  to  think  for  him,  where  it  was  his 
duty  to  think  and  act  for  himself.  Time  showed  that 
the  President's  plan  of  securing  New  Orleans  by 
purchase  was  safer  than  the  Federal  one  of  seizing  it 
by  force.  Yet  there  was  great  weight  in  the  idea 
that,  if  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  Napoleon,  it  could 
be  obtained  from  him  only  at  the  expense  of  a  war 
with  France.  Its  possession  by  either  France  or 
England  would  have  seriously  endangered  the  secu 
rity  and  essential  interests  of  the  United  States.  The 
President  was  keenly  sensible  to  the  danger  from 
this  quarter ;  as  his  views  of  policy  required,  above 
all  else,  a  good  understanding  with  France.  "There 
is,"  said  he,  "  one  spot  on  the  globe,  the  possessor  of 
which  is  our  natural  and  habitual  enemy.  That  spot 
is  New  Orleans.  France,  placing  herself  in  that  door, 
assumes  to  us  the  attitude  of  defiance."  On  my 
father's  presenting  to  him  (February  26th),  as  Chair 
man  of  the  Committee  on  Enrolled  Bills,  the  act 
intended  to  authorize  the  purchase  of  New  Orleans, 
he  said :  "  A  great  point  is  now  gained ;  a  new  pre 
cedent  established  in  our  government — the  passage 


256  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

of  an  important  law  by  Congress,  in  secret  session. 
They  ought  to  have  passed,  some  years  since,  the  law 
respecting  Algiers  in  the  same  manner." 

Two  or  three  other  extracts  will  bring  us  to  the 
close  of  this  session.  He  wrote  often  to  his  wife  and 
children ;  and  I  had  myself  many  letters  from  him 
during  the  session.  February  22d,  he  says,  in  a  letter 
to  me  : — 

"  The  members  of  the  House  sit  with  their  hats  on,  but 
take  them  off  when  they  speak.  It  has  rather  an  odd  appear 
ance  to  see  the  House  covered,  and  the  Senators,  and  Heads 
of  Departments,  who  frequently  go  in  to  hear  the  debates, 
with  their  hats  in  their  hands.  Mr.  Randolph  goes  to  the 
House  booted  and  spurred,  with  his  whip  in  his  hand,  in 
imitation,  it  is  said,  of  members  of  the  British  Parliament. 
He  is  a  very  slight  man,  but  of  the  common  stature.  At  a 
little  distance  he  does  not  appear  older  than  you  are ;  but 
upon  a  nearer  approach  you  perceive  his  wrinkles  and  grey 
hairs.  He  is,  I  believe,  about  thirty.  He  is  a  descendant  in 
the  right  line  from  the  celebrated  Indian  princess,  Pocahontas. 
The  Federalists  ridicule  and  affect  to  despise  him ;  but  a 
despised  foe  often  proves  a  dangerous  enemy.  His  talents 
are  certainly  far  above  mediocrity.  As  a  popular  speaker,  he 
is  not  inferior  to  any  man  in  the  House.  I  admire  his  inge 
nuity  and  address  ;  but  I  dislike  his  politics." 

To  Judge  Smith,  February  23d : 

"  Burr  presides  in  the  Senate  with  great  ease  and  dignity. 
He  always  understands  the  subject  before  the  Senate ;  states 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  257 

the  question  clearly,  and  confines  the  speakers  to  the  point. 
He  despises  the  littleness  and  meanness  of  the  administration ; 
but  does  not  distinctly  oppose  them,  or  aid  us.  It  is  his 
object  to  detach  from  the  two  parties  enough  to  constitute  a 
majority  in  his  favor.  He  frequently  touches  a  subject  in 
conversation  with  the  skill  of  a  master.  But,  with  all  his 
cunning,  he  will  find  it  a  difficult  task  to  inspire  confidence 
or  esteem.  His  arts  have  alarmed  the  fears  and  awakened  the 
jealousies  of  the  President." 

February  26th: 

"The  dark  complexion,  and  something  in  his  look  and 
manner,  gives  one  the  impression  that  Mr.  Hillhouse  of  Con 
necticut  has  Indian  blood  in  his  veins.  He  and  Wright  of 
Maryland  have  frequent  collisions.  The  latter  said  to-day  :  '  I 
would  not  repine  at  being  stricken  down  by  the  thunder-bolts 
of  Jove  (looking  towards  Morris),  but  I  will  not  submit 
tamely  to  be  mangled  by  the  tomahawk  of  this  son  of  Alno- 
mac,'  pointing  to  Hillhouse.  The  latter,  by  a  sudden  motion, 
seemed  as  if  springing  on  his  foe,  who  dropped  as  suddenly 
into  his  seat,  amidst  the  suppressed  laughter  of  the  Senate, 
to  which  the  straight,  up-drawn  gravity  and  assumed  uncon 
sciousness  of  the  Connecticut  Senator  gave  full  effect." 

Hillhouse  had  acquired  at  home  the  title  of  the 
Sachem ;  and  his  son  has  since,  with  great  good 
taste,  given  to  his  beautiful  paternal  seat,  in  New 
Haven,  the  name  of  the  Sachem's  Wood — a  name 
referring  at  once  to  his  father,  and  to  the  tradition  of 

17 


258  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

an  early  Indian  residence  on  the  spot  consecrated  to 
fame  by  his  own  gifted  pen. 
March  3d : 

"  A  severe  indisposition  would  have  excused  me  from  the 
Senate  this  day ;  but  pride  and  a  sense  of  duty  induced  me  to 
attend.  The  House  had  passed  the  bill  to  reduce  the  marine 
corps ;  and  to-day  was  assigned  for  its  third  reading  in  the 
Senate.  More  than  one  of  my  Democratic  friends  took  occa 
sion  to  inform  me  that  the  weather  was  peculiarly  unpleasant, 
and  that  my  chamber  was  better  suited  to  so  sick  a  man  than 
the  Capitol.  But,  regardless  of  their  friendly  monitions,  I 
tarried ;  and,  at  six  in  the  evening,  the  bill  was  postponed  to 
the  4th  of  March  next.  This  is  a  triumph  to  the  Feder 
alists." 

To  his  wife,  March  3d : 

"  To-morrow  morning  I  shall  begin  my  journey  to  Epping, 
and  hope  to  reach  home  in  about  a  fortnight.  There  is  one 
circumstance  attending  my  departure  from  this  place  which 
sensibly  affects  me,  and  has  very  much  depressed  my  spirits. 
It  is  that  I  am  to  part  from  friends  that  I  shall  probably  never 
see  again.  Not  to  mention  others,  I  shall  not  find,  if  I  return 
to  this  place  in  November,  Morris  and  Ross  in  their  seats, — 
Morris,  the  greatest  orator  I  ever  heard ;  Ross,  the  logical 
reasoner  and  impressive  speaker.  No  more  will  their  in 
structive  conversation  inform  my  mind,  nor  their  gentleman 
like  conduct  polish  my  manners.  They  are  men  of  great 
talents,  of  much  and  varied  information,  and  of  strict  integrity. 
I  shall  ever  consider  it  one  of  the  fortunate  circumstances  of 


LIFE    OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER.  259 

my  life,  that  I  have  had  an  opportunity  to  connect  myself 
with  them.  What  a  pity  that  the  rage  of  party  should 
exclude  such  men  from  our  national  councils  !  The  injury 
done  is  to  the  country,  and  not  to  my  friends.  I  have  only 
time  to  add  that  I  am  well,  and  shall  hasten  to  your  presence 
with  increased  pleasure,  after  so  long  an  absence." 

Another  strong  motive  for  a  speedy  return  was 
the  ill  health  of  his  father,  whom  lie  hardly  expected 
to  find  alive. 

"  Congress  adjourned,"  he  writes,  "  at  midnight,  on  the 
3d  of  March ;  and  early  the  next  morning  I  took  the  stage 
for  home,  which  I  reached  safely  and  in  good  health  on  the 
13th  at  noon.  My  father  was  alive ;  and  I  hastened  imme 
diately  to  visit  him.  On  my  entering  the  room  he  revived. 
His  mental  faculties  were  clear  and  strong ;  and  after  con 
versing  with  me  for  some  time,  inquiring  how  I  had  enjoyed 
my  health,  and  what  were  our  national  prospects,  he  wished 
me,  as  night  approached,  to  retire  and  take  some  rest,  as  I 
had  travelled  day  and  night.  I  had  been  in  bed  but  a  little 
time,  before  I  was  sent  for,  and  again  visited  him.  Just 
before  the  day  dawned,  on  the  14th  of  March,  1803,  in  full 
possession  of  his  reason,  with  calmness  and  fortitude,  he 
expired  without  a  struggle,  in  the  eighty-second  year  of  his 
age.  It  afforded  me  some  consolation,  though  a  melancholy 
one,  to  be  present  at  his  dissolution." 

His  conduct  towards  his  parents  had  always  been 
that  of  the  most  respectful  tenderness.  He  never 
ceased  to  express  for  them  the  utmost  filial  reverence 


260  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

and  love.  Years  after,  on  reading  the  touching  line 
of  Cowper, 

"The  son  of  parents  passed  into  the  skies/' 

he  paused,  closed  the  book,  and  said  feelingly:  "My 
case,  that  is  truly  my  case — ( The  son  of  parents 
passed  into  the  skies,'"  repeating  the  line  with  an 
emotion  which  brought  tears  into  his  eyes. 

During  the  recess  he  spent  his  time  pleasantly  in 
the  society  of  his  friends,  visiting  and  being  visited, 
and  devoting  his  leisure,  in  the  intervals  of  study,  to 
rural  occupations.  On  the  first  of  October,  he  again 
set  out  for  Washington,  which  city  he  reached  on  the 
14th.  The  President  had  summoned  Congress  to 
meet  on  the  17th,  on  account  of  the  treaty  which  had 
been  formed  for  the  purchase  of  Louisiana.  The 
treaty  and  conventions  were  at  once  laid  before  the 
Senate  for  their  action.  The  two  millions,  appropri 
ated  at  the  last  session,  had  been  intended  for  the 
purchase  of  the  territory  east  of  the  Mississippi,  com 
prehending  the  island  of  New  Orleans,  and  as  much 
of  the  Floridas  as  could  be  obtained.  The  times  were 
peculiarly  favorable  for  the  success  of  the  negotiation. 
France  was  on  the  eve  of  a  war  with  England,  whose 
naval  superiority  gave  her  easy  access  to  Louisiana, 
and  made  the  reduction  of  it  by  that  power,  in  the 
event  of  war,  almost  certain.  Napoleon  was  glad  to 
find  for  his  newly  acquired  territory  a  purchaser,  who 


LIFE    OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER.  261 

would  not  only  keep  it  from  his  enemy,  but  pay  him 
for  it  besides.  Instead,  therefore,  of  the  small  portion 
which  alone  the  President  sought  to  acquire,  he 
offered  the  whole  territory  for  fifteen  millions, — 
a  sum  which,  though  it  seemed  large  to  those  who 
were  opposed  to  the  purchase,  and  was  at  the  time 
made  the  subject  of  much  ill-founded  clamor,  was  in 
truth  a  mere  trifle  compared  with  the  value  of  the 
country  ceded.  The  treaty  was  signed,  April  30, 
3  803.  It  now  came  before  the  Senate  for  ratification; 
and  here  difficulties,  not  altogether  imaginary,  rose 
in  the  way  of  its  adoption.  As  to  the  title,  the  Fed 
eralists  contended  that  the  treaty  was  a  mere  quit 
claim  of  the  right  of  France ;  and  that  it  did  not 
appear  that  France  had  complied  with  the  condition 
on  which  alone  Spain  had  agreed  to  cede  it  to  her. 
The  treaty  of  St.  Ildefonso  was  not  in  itself  a  cession, 
but  an  agreement  to  cede  under  certain  circum 
stances.  In  point  of  fact,  the  country  was  still  in 
the  possession  of  Spain;  and  the  Spanish  minister 
here  had  entered  his  caveat  or  protest  with  our 
government  against  the  transfer,  as  invalid.  There 
were  also  provisions  in  the  treaty,  respecting  the  ad 
mission  of  French  and  Spanish  vessels  into  the  terri 
tory,  and  the  rights  of  the  inhabitants  under  it,  which 
were  thought  by  many  to  be  contrary  to  the  Consti 
tution.  But  the  great  objection  was  to  the  acquisi 
tion  by  the  United  States  of  any  territory  whatever, 


262  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

under  the  obligation  to  admit  it  as  a  state  into  the 
Union.  The  Constitution,  it  was  contended,  was 
formed  for  the  government  of  a  certain  known  and 
defined  territory,  called  the  United  States,  and  could 
not  be  extended  to  any  other  territory,  without  an 
amendment  of  that  instrument,  providing  for  such 
extension,  nor,  as  some  contended,  without  the  con 
sent  of  each  of  the  states.  These  objections  did  not, 
however,  prevent  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  (Oc 
tober  20th) ;  yeas  24,  nays  7.  The  nays  included 
all  the  Federalists  present.  My  father  was  among 
them.  He  held  that  the  treaty  contained  virtually 
a  stipulation  to  admit  the  territory  as  a  state  into  the 
Union ;  and  that,  Congress  having  no  right  to  do  this, 
the  Senate  could  not  ratify  a  treaty  which  the  gov 
ernment  itself  had  no  power  to  execute.  This 
unconstitutional  character  of  the  treaty  was  admitted 
by  many  in  the  debate,  and  particularly  by  Taylor  of 
Virginia,  who  "  confessed  that  the  treaty  was  a  vio 
lation  of  the  Constitution,  but  declared  that  he  would 
ratify  it,  and  throw  himself  on  the  people  for  pardon, 
and  on  Heaven  to  absolve  him  from  the  violation  of 
a  trust  he  had  sworn  to  maintain." 

"  "While  the  question  was  depending  in  the  Senate,"  says 
nay  father,  "  I  called  upon  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  had  an  hour's 
free  conversation  with  him.  In  the  course  of  it,  he  inquired 
what  my  opinion  was  respecting  the  treaty.  I  answered,  I 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  263 

thought  we  had  110  constitutional  authority  to  make  and 
execute  such  a  treaty.  He  said  that  was  precisely  his  opinion  ; 
but  that  after  it  was  ratified  the  Constitution  could  be  altered, 
so  as  to  authorize  Congress  to  admit  the  country  into  the 
Union.  '  The  Constitution/  he  said,  in  a  letter  to  one  of  his 
friends,  (  has  made  no  provision  for  our  holding  foreign  terri 
tory  ;  still  less  for  our  incorporating  foreign  nations  into  our 
Union.  Congress  will  be  obliged  to  ask  from  the  people  an 
amendment  of  the  Constitution,  authorizing  their  receiving  the 
province  into  the  Union,  and  providing  for  its  government.' 
The  draft  of  such  an  amendment  was  prepared  by  Mr.  Madi 
son  ;  but,  as  it  was  doubtful  whether  it  would  be  adopted  by 
the  requisite  mumber  of  states,  it  was  never  formally  proposed, 
though  still  talked  of  as  necessary." 

When  the  subject  came  before  the  House,  the  same 
objections  were  made  to  the  treaty  as  in  the  Senate. 
"The  union  of  the  states/'  said  Roger  Griswold  of 
Connecticut,  "is  formed  on  the  principle  of  a  copart 
nership,,  and  it  would  be  absurd  to  suppose  that  the 
agents  of  the  parties,  the  general  government,  who 
have  been  appointed  to  execute  the  business  of  the 
compact,  in  behalf  of  the  principals,  the  states,  could 
admit  a  new  partner,  without  the  consent  of  the 
parties  themselves.  The  treaty,  therefore,  so  far  as  it 
stipulates  for  such  an  incorporation,  is  void." 

This  violation  of  the  Constitution,  acquiesced  in 
from  its  apparent  utility  in  the  present  case,  was 
regarded,  in  1819,  as  a  sufficient  authority  for  the 


264  LIFE    OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

acquisition  of  Florida,  by  treaty ;  of  Texas,  by  resolu 
tion  of  annexation,  in  1845;  and  of  large  portions  of 
Mexico,  by  conquest  and  purchase,  in  1848;  till  it 
seems  to  be  now  settled  as  constitutional  law  that 
any  extent  of  foreign  territory  may  be  acquired  by 
the  general  government,  and  must,  when  so  acquired, 
be  admitted  into  the  Union  upon  an  equal  footing 
with  the  original  states.  It  is  among  the  instructive 
lessons  of  our  history  that  this  claim  of  an  unlimited 
power  to  acquire  territory  and  admit  states,  is  the  act 
of  those  who  pride  themselves  on  being  strict  con- 
structionists ;  and  that  under  it  they  have  added  to 
the  Union  territories  much  more  extensive  than  the 
whole  of  the  original  states.  This  has  been  done  by 
those  who  deny  the  right  of  Congress  to  establish  a 
bank,  to  make  internal  improvements,  or  to  enact 
a  protective  tariff.  The  undeniable  importance  of 
possessing  the  outlet  of  the  Mississippi  made  the 
acquisition  of  a  portion  of  Florida  and  Louisiana 
desirable;  and  this  was  the  extent  of  Mr.  Jefferson's 
original  design.  But  the  prize  was  too  dazzling  to  be 
rejected  when  half  a  continent  was  offered  to  his 
cupidity;  and  constitutional  objections  had,  in  this 
case,  little  weight  with  the  mass  of  the  people.  Saga 
cious  men,  indeed,  looked  forward  to  the  day  when, 
by  the  filling  up  of  this  territory,  the  balance  of 
power  would  be  transferred  from  the  original  states  to 
this  once  alien  country,  and  both  the  North  and  the 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  265 

South  would  sink  into  subjection  to  the  power  thus 
created.  My  father  regarded  it  as  a  virtual  dissolu 
tion  of  the  Union,  and  held  that  it  was  optional 
with  any  of  the  old  states  to  say  whether  they 
would  longer  remain  in  the  present  confederacy,  or 
form  new  ones  more  to  their  liking.  Twenty-five 
years  later,  he  said,  "I  still  think  the  ratification  of 
that  treaty  was  the  most  direct  and  palpable  viola 
tion  of  the  Constitution,  of  which  Congress  has  ever 
been  guilty."  Yet,  when  it  had  been  thus  ratified, 
he  thought  himself  bound  to  vote  for  the  stock  cre 
ated  to  pay  for  the  territory,  as  provided  by  the 
treaty.  In  this  he  differed  from  his  Federalist  friends, 
who  all  voted  against  the  bill,  except  John  Quincy 
Adams.  He  had  just  then  taken  his  seat  as  a  Senator 
from  Massachusetts,  and  with  him  my  father  con 
tracted  a  friendship  which  ended  only  with  their 
lives.  They  voted  together  on  this  occasion,^  on 
many  others  which  followed.  They  both  voted 
against  the  bill  for  taking  possession  of  the  terri 
tory,  as  containing  provisions  which  they  deemed 
not  only  inexpedient,  but  unconstitutional. 

The  last  presidential  election  had,  in  the  opinion 
of  many,  revealed  a  defect  in  the  Constitution,  which 
required  amendment.  The  Constitution  provided  that 
each  Presidential  elector  should  vote  for  two  persons; 
the  one  having  the  highest  number  of  votes  to  be 
President,  and  the  one  having  the  next  highest  to  be 


266  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

Yice  President;  and  in  case  there  was  no  choice  by  the 
people,  the  President  was  to  be  chosen  out  of  the  five 
highest  candidates,  by  the  House  of  Representatives, 
voting  by  states;  and  the  Vice  President,  by  the 
Senate.  At  the  last  election,  no  person  having 
received  a  majority  of  all  the  votes,  the  two  high 
est  candidates  were  Jefferson  and  Burr,  who  had 
each  received  the  same  number  of  electoral  votes. 
The  choice  of  President  thus  devolving  on  the  House, 
it  was  not  till  the  thirty-sixth  ballot,  at  the  end  of  a 
seven  days'  session,  that  Jefferson  was  chosen  Presi 
dent;  the  Federalists  having  voted  at  all  the  previous 
ballotings  for  Burr.  An  amendment  of  the  Consti 
tution  was  now  proposed,  designating  the  office  for 
which  each  person  was  intended  by  the  electors, 
and  providing,  in  case  there  was  no  choice  by  the 
electors,  that  the  President  should  be  chosen  by  the 
House,  out  of  the  three  highest  candidates.  Though 
at  first  some  doubts  had  been  expressed  by  individ 
uals  on  both  sides,  as  to  how  they  should  vote,  it  soon 
became  a  party  question,  all  the  Republicans  but  one 
voting  for,  and  all  the  Federalists  against,  the  pro 
posed  amendments.  After  various  alterations  had 
been  proposed,  some  of  them  adopted,  and  others 
rejected,  the  resolutions  took  their  final  form,  and  the 
debate  on  the  main  question  commenced.  My  father 
delivered  his  sentiments  on  the  subject  in  a  speech  of 
nearly  two  hours.  An  abstract  of  this  speech  would 


LIFE    OF     WILLIAM    PLUMEE.  267 

occupy  too  much  room  here ;  but  some  portions  of  it 
may  be  noticed,  either  as  important  in  themselves, 
or  from  their  connection  with  the  author.  After 
explaining  the  only  modes  by  which  amendments 
could  be  made,  and  drawing  from  the  difficulty  of 
the  operation  a  caution  against  hasty  action,  he  con 
tended  that  "the  two-thirds  of  both  Houses  of  Con 
gress"  required,  to  propose  an  amendment,  meant., 
"not  two-thirds  of  those  who  may  happen  to  be 
present  and  vote  on  the  question  •  but  two-thirds  of 
all  the  members  of  each  House,  whom  all  the  states- 
have  a  right  to  elect."  To  sustain  this  construction 
he  quoted  several  other  clauses  in  which  the  expres 
sion,  "two-thirds  of  both  Houses"  had  evidently  this 
meaning,  while  in  cases  where  the  meaning  is  differ 
ent,  the  phrase  is  changed  to  "  two-thirds  of  those 
present."  "If  two-thirds  of  those  present  can  pro 
pose  amendments  to  the  Constitution,  it  follows  that 
twelve  Senators,  when  only  a  quorum  is  present, 
may  propose  them  against  the  will  of  twenty-two 
Senators."  This  distinction  was  a  material  one  in 
the  present  case,  and,  if  sustained,  would  have  been 
fatal  to  the  success  of  the  measure ;  as  it  was  well 
understood  that  no  such  majority  could  be  obtained 
in  either  House.  He  denied  the  right  of  the  state 
Legislatures  to  instruct  Congress  on  this  subject. 

"We  are  not  sent  here,"    he  said,  "for  the  purpose  of 
registering  the  public   opinion.     Our  duty  is   to  obtain  the 


268  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLTJMER. 

best  information  we  can,  and  then  to  act  according   to  our 
own  judgment  of  what  is  right  and  proper.     I  do  not  say 
that  the  states  may  not,  in  some  cases,  instruct  their  Senators 
and  Eepresentatives.     I  only  say  that  it  is  improper,  in  this 
case,  that  those  who  are  to  ratify  the  amendments  proposed 
should  instruct  us  in  the  first  instance  what  amendments  to 
propose.    It  is  the  assumption  of  power,  and  not  the  exercise  of 
right.     As  well  might  a  petit  jury  instruct  a  grand  jury  to 
find  a  bill  against  a  particular  individual,  and  send  it  to  them 
for  trial.     It  is  judging  before  the  time,  and  under  improper 
influences.     See  too  in  what  a  vicious  circle  it  involves  us. 
We  are  called  upon  to  propose  the  amendments,  because  some 
four  or  five  state  legislatures,  my  own  among  the  rest,  have 
so  instructed  us ;  and  when  we  have  done  it,  the  legislatures, 
throughout  the    Union  will  be   told  that  they  must  adopt 
them,  because  Congress,  in  its  wisdom,  has  seen  fit  to  propose 
them.     We,  because  they  have  done  it ;  they,  because  we 
have  ;  with  no  independent  action  in  either  case.     Thus   the 
measure  is  to  be  carried  by  this  irregular  influence  of  one- 
body  on  the  other.     If  such  instructions  are  obligatory,  we 
are  mere  machines ;  and  our  votes  must  be  governed,  not  by 
the  convictions  of  our  own  minds,  but  by  the  sovereign  man 
dates  of  state  legislatures.     I  do  not  so  understand  the  nature 
of  my  office,  nor  my  duty  in  it.     The  people  themselves, 
established  the  Constitution,  giving  us  certain  rights  under  itr 
and  these  we  are  bound  to  exercise,  according  to  our  own 
judgment,  without  interference  from  others.     In  so  doing  we 
obey,  in  the  highest  possible  sense,  the  voice  of  the  people. 
Any  other  expression  of  that  voice  may  be  a  true  or  a  false 
one ;  this  only  is  authentic  and  obligatory,  the  official   and 
sole  constitutional  expression  of  the  public  will." 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  269 

Another  position  taken  by  him  was  that,  though 
minor  matters  In  the  Constitution,  such  as  the  forms 
and  modes  of  proceeding — the  agencies  by  which 
certain  great  objects  are  to  be  affected — may  be 
•changed,  the  essential  principles  of  that  instrument 
— the  great  compromises  on  which  the  whole  rests — 
cannot,  in  good  faith  and  honesty,  be  disturbed,  with 
out  the  consent  of  all  the  partners  to  the  compact,  a 
compact  formed  by  each  individual  state  separately, 
with  each  of  the  other  states. 

<f  Amendment  means  the  improvement  of  what  already 
exists,  not  a  new  creation;  a  change  in  form,  not  in  sub 
stance  ;  in  modes  of  action  only,  and  not  in  the  principles  of 
action.  If  a  change  is  made  in  the  essential  principles  of  the 
compact, — if  new  principles  are  introduced,  and  a  new  order 
of  things  established, — it  is  a  question  whether  the  states 
dissenting  from  such  changes  are  bound  by  them.  The  prin 
ciples  of  the  confederacy  being  changed,  without  the  consent 
of  the  partners  to  that  confederacy,  is  not  this  in  fact  a  disso 
lution  of  the  Union  ?  Are  gentlemen  disposed  to  go  thus  far  ? 
The  Constitution  is  a  matter  of  compromise,  as  between  the 
North  and  the  South — the  free  and  the  slave  states,  and  as 
between  the  large  and  the  small  states.  These  compromises 
are  fundamental,  and  cannot  in  good  faith  be  altered  but  by 
unanimous  consent.  "Would  the  Southern  States  submit  to  an 
alteration  depriving  them  of  their  slave  representation  ?  This 
partial,  unjust,  and  unequal  representation  already  gives  the 
slave  states  eighteen  votes  in  the  House,  and  as  many  in  the 


270  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLFMER. 

electoral  colleges,  which  is  equal  to  the  united  votes  in  the 
House  of  six  whole  states,  thus  rendered  powerless  by  this 
slave  representation.  And  why  should  property,  (for  such 
you  consider  your  slaves,)  give  an  increase  of  representation  in 
one  portion  of  the  Union,  and  property  in  other  portions  be 
not  at  all  represented  ?  With  the  exception  of  Massachusetts, 
which  must  soon  be  divided,  the  Northern  States  are  all  small 
states ;  and  they  are  supposed  to  have  received  some  com 
pensatory  advantage  in  this  choice  of  a  President  and  Vice 
President.  But  you  take  this  away  by  the  proposed  amend 
ment  ;  which  secures  to  the  large  states  both  these  important 
offices.  When,  under  the  present  provision,  the  choice 
devolves  upon  the  House,  the  small  states  stand  some  chance 
to  elect  a  President,  the  choice  being  made  out  of  the  five 
highest  candidates.  By  the  present  amendment  this  choice  is 
reduced  to  the  three  highest ;  and  their  choice  is  still  further 
diminished  by  the  designating  principle.  Will  gentlemen 
who,  by  their  negro  votes  alone,  outnumber  the  votes  of  six 
entire  states  of  this  Union,  seek  to  render  the  unjust  advantage 
which  they  already  possess  still  greater  by  this  amendment  ? 
And  have  they  considered  what  the  effect  of  this  new  injustice 
may  be  on  the  minds  of  our  people  ?  There  is  a  degree  of 
sufferance  to  which  men  will  submit ;  but  beyond  that,  even 
cowards  become  desperate.  The  people  of  the  Eastern  States 
are  not  insensible  to  the  indignity  thus  offered  them.  They 
are  a  brave  and  hardy  race,  who  know  their  rights,  and  will 
not  tamely  submit  to  be  reduced  to  a  state  of  insignificance. 
They  will  see  that  no  equivalent  is  given  them  for  the  injury 
this  amendment  inflicts  on  them,  in  the  increased  weight 
which  it  gives  to  the  Southern  and  Western  States,  at  their 


LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMEK.  271 

expense.  What  effect  this  change  may  produce  in  New 
England,  time  alone  can  show.  One  thing  is  certain,  that  it 
will  not  strengthen  the  Union." 

He  dwelt  further  on  the  danger  to  the  Union  of 
thus  disturbing  the  compromises  of  the  Constitution, 
already  seriously  affected  by  the  purchase  of  Louisi 
ana  ;  which  would  bring  several  new  states  into  the 
confederacy,  and  throw  the  balance  of  power,  origin 
ally  adjusted  with  so  much  care,  wholly  in  favor  of 
the  South  and  Southwest.  Other  objections  were 
urged ;  some  of  them  not  unimportant ;  all  going  to 
show  that  the  proposed  amendment  would  make  the 
strong  states  still  stronger,  and  the  weak  states, 
already  too  weak,  yet  weaker.  The  office  of  Vice 
President  ought,  in  his  opinion,  to  be  abolished,  and 
the  Senate  left,  like  the  House,  to  choose  its  own  pre 
siding  officer. 

"  If  the  present  amendment  is  adopted,  the  Vice  President 
will  ordinarily  be  a  man  of  moderate  but  popular  talents ; 
who  will  be  supported  because  he  can  bring  the  votes  of  a 
large  state  to  aid  in  the  election  of  a  President  from  another 
large  state.  He  will  seldom  be  a  very  able  man;  for  the 
President,  like  the  jealous  Turk,  will  bear  no  brother  near  the 
throne.  Having  the  casting  vote,  when  the  Senate  is  equally 
divided,  the  Vice  President  gives  an  undue  influence  to  his 
own  state ;  and  this  has  happened  oftener  on  important  ques 
tions  than  those  who  have  not  examined  the  journals  for  that 
purpose  would  suspect." 


272  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK. 

For  these  reasons  he  was  willing  to  abolish  the 
office  of  Vice  President,  but  opposed  to  any  other 
change  of  the  Constitution.  • 

On  closing  his  speech,  he  was  congratulated  by  his 
friends  on  the  ability  he  had  shown  in  it.  But  he 
complained  that  he  had  not  felt  his  usual  animation 
in  speaking,  and  he  doubted  whether  he  should  again 
attempt  a  set  speech  in  the  Senate.  The  debate  was 
continued  till  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening.  Tracy 
closed  it  with  great  ability  on  the  part  of  the  oppo 
sition.  The  amendments  passed ;  yeas  22,  nays  10. 
It  was  objected  that  twenty-two  Senators  were  not 
two-thirds  of  the  Senate ;  but  the  President  pro  tern. 
pronounced  it  a  constitutional  majority.  A  desultory 
conversation  ensued,  but  no  vote  was  taken.  In  the 
House  a  majority  of  two-thirds  of  those  present  and 
actually  voting  was  obtained  only  by  the  casting  vote 
of  the  Speaker.  The  amendments  were  approved  by 
just  the  requisite  number  of  states  for  their  adoption, 
and  are  now  a  part  of  the  Constitution.  It  did  not, 
however,  receive  the  vote  of  New  Hampshire,  so  that, 
though  my  father  voted  against  instructions  in  this 
case,  his  constituents  came  round  and  voted  with  him 
in  the  end  against  the  amendment.  No  other  amend 
ment  of  the  Constitution  has  since  been  adopted. 

The  House  of  Representatives  had,  at  the  previous 
session,  voted  to  impeach  John  Pickering,  District 
Judge  of  New  Hampshire,  and  the  case  now  came  on 


LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER.  273 

for  trial  before  the  Senate.  The  hypochondria,  as  it 
was  called  in  1794,  of  Judge  Pickering,  had  in  1803 
been  developed  into  a  condition,  bodily  and  mental, 
which  rendered  him  incompetent  to  the  discharge  of 
his  official  duties.  How  to  get  rid  of  him  was  now 
the  question.  The  Constitution  knows  no  mode  of 
removing  a  judge  except  by  "impeachment  for  high 
crimes  and  misdemeanors."  That  his  mental  powers 
were  impaired  or  deranged,  no  one  doubted.  The 
New  Hampshire  Senators  were  both  examined  as  wit 
nesses  as  to  his  character,  and  testified  to  the  high 
moral  worth  of  the  Judge,  so  long  as  he  retained  the 
use  of  his  reason.  Under  these  circumstances  it  was 
with  difficulty  that  a  sufficient  number  of  votes  could 
be  obtained  to  convict  him.  The  Federal  members 
were  all  opposed  to  the  impeachment,  and  three  of 
the  Republicans  absented  themselves.  The  final  vote 
was,  yeas  19,  nays  7,  and  he  was  accordingly  removed. 
The  case  was  a  difficult  one,  in  every  aspect.  Pick 
ering's  removal  was  desirable ;  but  to  make  insanity 
a  misdemeanor  was  to  confound  all  distinctions  of 
law  and  justice,  and  to  pervert  the  constitutional 
provision  of  impeachment  for  crime  into  an  uncon 
stitutional  mode  of  removal  from  office  without  crime, 
thus  changing  the  tenor  of  judicial  office  from  "  good 
behavior"  to  that  of  the  good  pleasure  of  Congress. 
The  success  of  this  impeachment  furnished  a  new 
proof  of  the  ease  with  which  constitutional  provisions 

18 


274  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

are  made  to  yield  to  the  supposed  necessities  of  the 
public  service,  and  to  the  interests,  often  urgent,  of 
party  leaders.  In  this  case,  it  gave  the  administration 
an  opportunity  of  rewarding  partizan  services  with 
the  spoils  of  office.  John  S.  Sherburne,  Jonathan 
Steele,  Michael  McCleary,  and  Richard  Cutts  Shan 
non  were  the  principal  witnesses  against  Pickering. 
Sherburne  was  appointed  Judge ;  Steele,  District 
Attorney;  McCleary,  Marshal;  and  Shannon,  Clerk 
of  the  Court.  Steele,  expecting  to  have  been  Judge, 
refused  to  accept  his  appointment,  assigning  as  the 
reason  his  agency  in  the  removal  of  Pickering. 

During  the  discussions  which  grew  out  of  this 
impeachment,  and  those  which  soon  after  followed 
respecting  Judge  Chase,  many  of  the  leading  Repub 
licans  evinced  a  determination  to  render  the  judges 
dependent,  for  the  tenure  of  their  offices,  on  the  will 
of  Congress.  William  B.  Giles  contended  that  a  judge 
might  be  removed,  though  guilty  of  no  crime,  for 
mere  error  in  judgment,  or  because  he  differed  in 
political  opinion  from  the  President,  or  from  Con 
gress;  and  that  either  of  these  was  a  sufficient 
ground  of  removal,  on  impeachment.  Randolph 
said,  that  the  provision  that  the  judges  should  hold 
their  offices  during  good  behavior  was  a  provision 
against  removal  by  the  President  only;  but  that 
whenever  the  people,  by  their  representatives,  re 
quest  him  to  remove  a  judge,  he  is  bound  to  do  it, 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  275 

and  that  the  House  may  impeach,  and  the  Senate 
convict  and  remove,  for  any  cause  which  they  may 
deem  sufficient.  The  dominant  party  was  already  in 
possession  of  every  department  of  the  government, 
except  the  judiciary.  They  had  abolished  the  Cir 
cuit  Courts  at  the  last  session,  and  seemed  now 
determined,  by  their  movements  against  Chase,  and 
their  threats  against  some  of  the  other  judges,  to 
drive  their  opponents  from  their  only  remaining 
stronghold,  the  Supreme  Court — "a  battery,"  said 
Jefferson,  "  by  which  all  the  works  of  Republicanism 
are  to  beaten  down  and  erased."  My  father  had 
high  notions  of  the  importance  of  an  independent 
judiciary;  and  this  apparent  determination  to  dis 
place  the  judges,  or,  by  the  threat  to  do  so,  to  bend 
them  to  the  will  of  the  party  in  power,  filled  him 
with  gloomy  apprehensions  for  the  safety  of  our  free 
institutions.  These  he  regarded  as  depending  for 
their  permanence,  more  on  constitutional  restraints 
and  the  stability  of  established  law,  than  on  any 
vague  notions  of  democratic  virtue  and  popular 
infallibility.  "I  once  thought,"  he  says,  February 
10th,  1803,  "our  judiciary  would  be  a  permanent 
defence  against  the  encroachments  of  power  •  but  I 
presumed  too  much  in  favor  of  Republicanism.  There 
are  no  bounds  that  can  be  set  to  the  popular  will." 
The  people  would,  he  thought,  be  right  in  the  long 
run,  and  they  must,  at  any  rate,  have  their  way  in  the 


276  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

end ;  but  they  often  go  wrong  under  the  excitement 
of  passion,  and  there  should  be  somewhere  placed  a 
stiff  curb  on  the  first  impulsive  movement.  This  is 
the  true  use  and  design  of  checks  and  balances,  and 
constitutional  restrictions, — a  veto  power,  in  some 
department  of  the  government,  to  give  time  for  the 
better  sense  and  sound  judgment  of  the  people  to 
correct  their  first  hasty  and  erroneous  impressions. 
The  judiciary  and  the  Senate  are  the  only  conserva 
tive  powers  in  our  system,  and  if  these  are  broken 
down,  or  betray  their  trust,  there  is  no  longer  any 
barrier  remaining  against  the  despotism  of  party,  or 
the  sudden  madness  of  popular  delusion. 

It  was  with  these  apprehensions,  and  at  this  period, 
that  Mr.  Plumer  began  first  to  entertain  doubts  as  to 
the  permanence  of  the  Union,  and  to  regard  its  dis 
solution  as  not  improbable,  and  under  certain  cir 
cumstances,  not  undesirable.  His  opinions  on  this 
subject  had  much  influence  on  his  subsequent  career, 
and  shaped,  to  a  great  extent,  his  course  of  action,  in 
some  of  the  most  interesting  periods  of  his  public 
life.  It  may  be  proper,  therefore,  to  examine  the 
state  of  public  feeling  on  this  question  of  a  dissolu 
tion  of  the  Union,  and  the  establishment  of  separate 
confederacies,  as  manifested,  more  or  less  strongly,  at 
different  periods,  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 

The  union  of  thirteen  independent  states  under 
one  general  government  was  an  experiment  of  which 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  277 

many,  from  the  first,  doubted  the  expediency,  and 
more  the  success.  Diversities  of  interest  and  feeling 
had  shown  themselves  strongly,  even  under  the  pres 
sure  of  force  from  without ;  still  more  strongly,  after 
the  peace  with  England ;  and  with  even  greater 
prominence  in  the  convention  by  which  the  Constitu 
tion  was  formed.  Attachment  to  the  Union  was  by 
no  means  universal  or  general.  Writing  to  Washing 
ton,  David  Stewart  said,  "  A  spirit  of  jealousy,  which 
may  become  dangerous  to  the  Union,  towards  the 
Eastern  States,  seems  to  be  growing  fast  among  us. 
Colonel  Lee  tells  me,  that  many  who  were  warm  sup 
porters  of  the  government,  are  changing  their  senti 
ments,  from  a  conviction  of  the  impracticability  of 
union  with  states  whose  interests  are  so  dissimilar  to 
those  of  Virginia."  "That  there  is  a  diversity  of 
interests  in  the  Union,"  says  Washington,  in  reply, 
(March  28,  1790,)  "none  has  denied-  yet  it  does  not 
follow  that  separation  is  to  result  from  the  disagree 
ment.  If  the  Eastern  and  Northern  States  are  dan 
gerous,  in  union,  will  they  be  less  so,  in  separation  ? 
What  would  Virginia  and  such  other  states  as  might 
be  inclined  to  join  her,  gain  by  separation  ?"  Writing 
to  Washington,  three  years  later,  (May  23, 1793,)  Jef 
ferson  said,  that  opposition  to  the  Union  was  origin 
ally  so  extensive  at  the  South,  and  had  been  recently 
so  much  increased,  that  "  a  small  number  only  was 
wanting  to  place  the  majority  on  the  other  side  •"  to 


278  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

prevent  which  his  continuance  at  the  head  of  affairs 
was  of  the  utmost  importance.  "North  and  South 
will  hang  together,  if  they  have  you  to  hang  on. 
Otherwise,  there  is  reason  to  fear  the  breaking  of  the 
Union  into  two  or  more  parts."  Edmund  Randolph 
took  the  same  ground.  "  The  Union  seems  to  me  to 
be  now  on  the  eve  of  a  crisis.  The  man  alone,  whose 
patronage  secured  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution, 
can  check  the  assaults  which  it  will  sustain."  Ham 
ilton  urged  Washington's  continuance  in  office,  (July, 
1792,)  from  the  same  apprehension  of  danger  to  the 
Union  from  his  retirement  at  that  time. 

From  that  period  to  the  present  time,  whenever 
any  part  of  the  country  has  felt  dissatisfied  with  the 
measures  of  the  government,  this  idea  of  a  separa 
tion  of  the  states  has  presented  itself  to  the  disaf 
fected  as  a  remedy  for  the  oppressions  under  which 
they  have  thought  themselves  to  labor.  Even  before 
the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  while  Louisiana  be 
longed  to  Spain,  intrigues  were  carried  on,  with  the 
authorities  of  New  Orleans,  for  the  separation  of  the 
Western  country  from  the  Union,  and  the  establish 
ment  of  more  intimate  relations  with  Spain.  The 
latter  country  had  its  agents  in  the  West,  and,  for  a 
long  time,  paid  pensions  to  certain  prominent  men 
there.  "  From  the  period  of  our  independence,"  said 
Mr.  Pope,  of  Kentucky,  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  (Dec.  27, 1810,)  "  Spain  has  been  intriguing-  to 


LIFE    OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER.  279 

separate  the  Western  from  the  Atlantic  States."  In 
1794,  the  Legislature  of  Kentucky,  in  a  remonstrance 
to  the  President  and  to  Congress,  threatened  a  dis 
memberment  of  the  Union,  if  the  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi  was  not  secured  to  them.  During  the 
Whiskey  Insurrection  in  Western  Pennsylvania, 
Hamilton  writes  to  Washington,  (August  5th,  1794,) 
that  the  opposition  "has  matured  to  a  point  that 
threatens  the  foundations  of  the  Union."  "  If,"  said 
Fisher  Ames,  (December  12,  1794,)  "fortune  had 
turned  her  back  upon  us  in  August  last,  this  Union 
would  have  been  rent.  The  spirit  of  insurrection  had 
tainted  a  vast  extent  of  country  besides  Pennsylvania." 
"Separation,"  said  Jefferson,  (December  28,  1794,) 
"  is  now  near  and  certain,  and  determined  in  the  mind 
of  every  man."  This  expression  is  doubtless  exagger 
ated,  growing  out  of  his  own  heated  opposition  to 
what  he  calls  "  the  infernal  excise  law ;"  which  would, 
he  said,  be  made  the  instrument  of  dissolving  the 
Union,  and  "set  us  all  afloat  to  choose  what  part  of 
it  we  would  adhere  to."  Among  the  means  used  to 
prevent  the  ratification  of  Jay's  Treaty,  in  1795,  was 
a  threat  from  Virginia,  "  to  recede  from  the  Union,  in 
case  the  treaty  should  be  ratified."  These  threats 
were  not  lost  on  the  mind  of  Washington.  The  dan 
gers  of  disunion  form  one  of  the  most  prominent 
topics  of  his  -Farewell  Address  (September  17,  1796), 
to  the  people  of  the  United  States.  In  it,  he  states, 


280  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

at  great  length,  the  advantages  of  the  Union  to  the 
North  and  the  South,  the  East  and  the  West ;  and 
calls  earnestly  on  the  people  u  to  frown  indignantly 
upon  the  first  dawning  of  every  attempt  to  alienate 
any  portion  of  our  country  from  the  rest." 

These  warnings,  often  quoted  with  salutary  effect, 
have  not,  however,  prevented  the  formation  of  plans 
of  disunion,  even  in  the  native  state  of  their  author. 
The  opposition  to  Adams's  administration  was  so- 
strong  in  the  South  and  West,  that  threats  of  dis 
union  were  loudly  uttered,  and  measures  adopted, 
particularly  in  Virginia,  having  evidently  that  result 
in  view,  in  the  event  of  his  re-election.  Writing  to 
Patrick  Henry,  (January  15,  1799,)  Washington  says 
that,  though  he  believes  the  mass  of  the  people  are 
well  affected  to  the  general  government,  yet  "  mea 
sures  are  systematically  and  pertinaciously  pursued  " 
by  the  state  authorities,  "which  must  eventually 
dissolve  the  Union,"  if  not  put  down  by  force.  "  The 
views  of  men  can  only  be  known,  or  guessed  at,  by 
their  words  or  actions.  Can  those  of  the  leaders  of 
opposition  be  mistaken,  if  judged  by  this  rule  ?  The 
tranquillity  of  the  Union,  and  of  this  state,  in  par 
ticular,  is  hastening  to  an  awful  crisis."  "  The  late 
attempt  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky,"  says  Hamilton  to 
Dayton,  (1799,)  "to  unite  the  state  legislatures  in  a 
direct  resistance  to  certain  laws  of  the  Union,  can  be 
considered  in  no  other  light  than  an  attempt  to 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  281 

change  the  government.  It  will  be  wise,  then,  to  act 
on  the  hypothesis  that  the  opposers  of  the  govern 
ment  are  resolved,  if  it  shall  be  practicable,  to  make 
its  existence  a  question  of  force." 

When  Spain  denied  the  right  of  deposit  at  New 
Orleans,  threats  were  again  uttered,  that  the  western 
people  would  join  the  Spaniards,  and  "make  the 
Alleghany  Mountains  the  western  boundary  of  the 
United  States."  "Would  it  be  indecorous,"  said 
Wilkinson  to  Hamilton,  "that  I  should  express  my 
apprehensions  that  we  repose  in  false  security;  and 
that  if  we  are  not  seasonably  aroused,  the  dismem 
berment  of  the  Union  must  be  put  to  hazard  ?"  Mr, 
Ross  said  in  the  Senate,  (February  14,  1803,)  that 
if  the  western  people  had  not  justice  done  them,  in 
the  business  of  the  Mississippi,  they  would  separate 
from  the  Union,  and  make  the  best  terms  they  could 
with  the  power,  whoever  that  might  be,  which  com 
manded  the  mouth  of  the  river.  "Put  France,"  said 
Governeur  Morris,  on  the  same  occasion,  "in  possession 
of  New  Orleans,  and  the  time  will  soon  come,  when 
those  who  cross  the  mountains,  will  cross  the  line 
of  your  jurisdiction."  White  of  Delaware  predicted, 
from  the  same  event,  "  one  of  the  greatest  evils  that 
can  befall  us,  the  dismemberment  of  the  Union." 
Three  years  later,  a  series  of  articles  was  published 
in  Ohio,  in  favor  of  a  separation  of  the  Western  States 
from  those  on  the  Atlantic ;  and  the  same  measure 


282  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

was  proposed  in  western  Pennsylvania.  This  was  at 
the  time  of  Burr's  conspiracy,  and  there  is  little 
doubt  that  the  project  of  a  western  confederacy  was 
then  extensively  entertained  by  many  able,  active, 
and  disaffected  men,  who,  "tired  of  the  dull  pursuits 
of  civil  life,"  looked  to  Burr  to  lead  them  out  of  the 
old  confederacy  into  a  "  new  empire  of  wealth  and 
glory."  The  pretence  was  a  war  with  Spain,  and  an 
attack  on  Mexico.  Andrew  Jackson  favored  Burr, 
while  he  believed  this  to  be  his  object ;  but,  when  he 
discovered  the  true  design,  he  wrote  to  Claiborne : 
66 1  hate  the  Dons,  and  would  delight  to  see  Mexico 
reduced ;  but  I  would  die  in  the  last  ditch,  before  I 
would  see  the  Union  disunited." 

Other  and  not  a  few  more  recent  instances  of  anti- 
union  feeling  and  action,  at  the  South  and  in  the 
West,  might  be  given ;  but  these  are  sufficient  for 
our  purpose.  They  show  that  such  designs  were  of 
almost  perpetual  occurrence  in  our  early  history.  It 
will  excite  little  surprise,  therefore,  if  we  find,  in 
the  progress  of  this  narrative,  that  similar  move 
ments,  having  the  same  object  in  view,  have  occurred 
also  at  the  North.  With  some  of  these  Mr.  Plumer 
was  connected ;  and  it  is  on  this  account  that  the  sub 
ject  is  here  introduced. 

In  1793,  Timothy  Dwight,  President  of  Yale  Col 
lege,  and  like  most  of  the  eminent  New  England 
divines  of  the  day,  a  leading  politician,  wrote  thus,  to 


LIFE     OP     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  283 

a  friend : — "  A  war  with  Great  Britain  we,  at  least, 
in  New  England,  will  not  enter  into.  Sooner  would 
ninety-nine  out  of  a  hundred  separate  from  the  Union, 
than  plunge  ourselves  into  such  an  abyss  of  misery." 
In  the  letters  of  Oliver  Wolcott,  Lieutenant  Governor 
of  Connecticut,  to  his  son,  then  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury,  this  idea  is  repeatedly  advanced.  u  If"  says  he, 
(November  21,  1796,)  "the  French  arms  continue  to 
preponderate,  and  a  governing  influence  of  this  nation 
shall  continue  in  the  Southern  and  Western  countries, 
I  am  confident,  and  indeed  hope,  that  a  separation  will 
soon  take  place."  "  Such  an  event,"  he  says,  (Novem 
ber  28, 1796,) "  will  be  unhappy  for  us ;  but  much  less 
so,  than  to  be  under  the  government  of  a  French 
agent."  "  Though  I  am  sensible,"  he  says,  (December 
12, 1796,)  "by  our  late  revolution,  of  the  evils  of  one, 
I  sincerely  declare  that  I  wish  the  Northern  States 
would  separate  from  the  Southern,  the  moment  that 
event  [the  election  of  Jefferson]  shall  take  effect." 
This  plan  of  disunion,  thus  rife  in  Connecticut  in 
1796,  may  not  improbably  be  regarded  as  the  germ 
of  that  which  appeared  at  Washington,  in  1803-4,  at 
Boston  in  1808-9,  and  which  showed^  itself,  for  the 
last  time,  where  it  was  first  disclosed,  in  the  Hartford 
Convention  of  1814. 

That  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana  would  lead  to  the 
dismemberment  of  the  Union,  seems  to  have  been,  at  the 
time  of  its  purchase,  a  not  uncommon  opinion.  "  Our 


284  LIFE    OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

country,"  said  Fisher  Ames,  (October  6, 1803,)  "  is  too 
big  for  Union."  In  the  House  of  Representatives, 
Hoger  Griswold,  of  Connecticut,  said,  (October  25, 
1803,)  "  The  vast  and  unmanageable  extent,  which  the 
acquisition  of  Louisiana  will  give  to  the  United  States, 
the  consequent  dispersion  of  our  population,  and  the 
destruction  of  that  balance,  which  it  is  so  important 
to  maintain,  between  the  Eastern  and  the  Western 
States,  threatens,  at  no  very  distant  day,  the  subver 
sion  of  our  Union."  In  the  Senate,  James  Hillhouse, 
of  Connecticut,  spoke,  (January  26,  1804,)  of  the 
country  as  being  divided  by  geographical  lines.  "  I 
am/'  he  said,  "an  eastern  man;  but  while  I  am  the 
representative  of  a  state  which  is  yet  a  member  of 
the  Union,  I  hope  I  shall  have  as  much  influence,  as 
if  I  were  a  southern  man."  Jackson,  of  Georgia, 
said,  (February  1, 1804,)  "The  settlement  of  Louisiana 
will  effect,  what  I  much  deprecate,  a  separation  of 
this  Union."  Drayton,  of  New  Jersey,  said,  (February 
2,  1804,)  "If  Upper  Louisiana  is  settled,  the  people 
there  will  separate  from  us ;  they  will  form  a  new 
empire,  and  become  our  enemies."  Stone,  of  North 
Carolina,  said,  (February  16,  1804,)  "The  acquisition 
of  Louisiana  will  produce  one  of  two  things,  either  a 
division  of  the  Union,  or  a  very  different  govern 
ment  from  what  we  now  have." 

Mr.  Plumer  had,  even  earlier,  expressed  himself  to 
the  same  effect. 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  285 

"The  ratification/'  he  says,  (October  20,  1803,)  "of  this 
treaty  and  the  possession  of  that  immense  territory  will 
hasten  the  dissolution  of  our  present  government.  The  Con 
stitution  never  contemplated  the  accession  of  a  foreign  people, 
or  the  extension  of  our  territory.  Our  government  may  be 
compared  to  a  company  in  trade.  "With  as  much  propriety 
might  a  new  partner  be  admitted,  and  the  firm  changed, 
without  the  consent  of  the  old  partners,  as  a  new  state,  formed 
from  without  the  limits  of  the  original  territory,  be  admitted 
into  the  Union,  without  the  preconsent  of  each  of  the  present 
states.  Adopt  this  western  world  into  the  Union,  and  you 
destroy  at  once  the  weight  and  importance  of  the  Eastern 
States,  and  compel  them  to  establish  a  separate  and  indepen 
dent  empire." 

On  this  subject  he  wrote,  during  the  session,  many 
letters  to  his  friends  in  NeAV  Hampshire.  To  Brad 
bury  Cilley,  he  wrote,  January  5,  1804 : 

"  I  fear  we  are  rapidly  approaching  a  great  crisis  in  our 
affairs.  My  hopes  rest  on  the  union  of  New  England.  That 
portion  of  our  country  will,  and  must  unite,  and  become  firm 
and  determined  in  their  measures.  I  am  willing  to  own  to 
you  that  I  have  spent  many  gloomy  hours  in  contemplating 
this  subject.  The  subject,  at  first,  filled  me  with  horror  and 
disgust." 

To  Oliver  Peabody,  (January  19,  1804,)  he  gives  a 
glowing  picture  of  the  evils  suffered  by  New  Eng 
land,  and  then  asks: 


286  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM     PLUMEE. 

"  What  do  you  wish  your  Senators  and  Representatives  to 
do  here  ?  We  have  no  part  in  Jefferson,  and  no  inheritance 
in  Virginia.  Shall  we  return  to  our  homes,  sit  under  our 
own  vines  and  fig  trees,  and  be  separate  from  slaveholders  ? 
These  are  serious  questions.  What  is  your  opinion,  and  that 
of  the  few  in  whom  you  can  confide  ?" 

To  Thomas  W.  Thompson,  he  writes,  in  February, 
1804: 

"  Our  affairs  rapidly  approach  an  important  crisis.  The 
government  is  Virginian.  New  England  must  soon  feel  its 
degraded  condition,  and  I  hope  will  have  energy  to  assert 
and  maintain  its  rights  ;  and  it  will  be  of  infinite  importance 
that  the  necessary  changes  should  be  effected  under  the  forms, 
and  by  the  authority  of  the  existing  state  governments.  What 
think  you  of  this?  Must  the  inheritance  be  secured?  I 
hope  the  necessity  of  preserving  our  state  governments,  as  a 
security  against  the  approaching  storm  which  may  rend  the 
Union,  will  induce  men  of  sound  minds,  who  have  property, 
as  well  as  reputation  and  life  at  hazard,  to  exert  themselves  in 
the  March  elections." 

To  this  Thompson  replied,  (February  27th,)  "I  have 
no  idea  that  the  season  for  action  is  near.  The  mass 
of  our  people  do  not  reflect.  They  must  be  made  to 
feel.  In  the  meantime,  we  are  all  covetous  of  time 
and  money,  and  nearly  all  too  poor  to  contribute 
much  of  either  for  public  purposes."  To  this  his 
disheartened  correspondent  rejoins,  (March  10,)  "In 


LIFE    OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER.  287 

New  England  I  see  but  too  little  of  national  charac 
ter  or  public  spirit.  The  love  of  money  will  be  our 
ruin.  Oh !  that  the  Eastern  States  knew,  in  this  their 
day,  the  things  that  belong  to  their  peace ;  but  they 
are  hidden  from  their  eyes.  If  New  England  will  not 
come  out,  and  separate  from  this  mass  of  Southern 
corruption,  she  must  partake  of  their  plagues."  At 
an  earlier  date,  (February  22d,)  he  had  written  to 
his  predecessor  in  the  Senate,  James  Sheafe,  making 
the  inquiry,  "Will  the  Eastern  States  think  of  a  sepa 
ration?  What  is  your  opinion  on  the  subject?"  To 
this  Sheafe  replied,  (March  7th,)  "On  the  subject 
you  hint  at  of  separation,  as  a  commercial  man,  I 
should  dread  such  an  event.  Our  consequence  abroad 
would  be  lowered  to  nothing.  I  do  not  believe  that 
a  separation  can  be  made,  before  half  a  century  is 
past,  without  consequences  ruinous  to  all  the  states." 
To  Jeremiah  Smith,  Mr.  Plumer  wrote,  in  March : 

"  If  we  wish,  for  security  to  persons,  property,  or  reputa 
tion,  we  must  introduce  a  new  order  of  things.  How  mutable 
is  the  state  of  things !  A  few  years  since,  our  fairest  hopes 
rested  on  the  wisdom  and  integrity  of  the  General  Govern 
ment,  to  protect  us  against  the  ignorance  and  frauds  of  state 
legislatures.  I  fondly  hope  I  shall  live  to  see  the  righteous 
separated  from  the  wicked  by  a  geographical  line.  True 
policy  demands  it." 

Smith  had  written  to  him,  (March  9th,  1796,)  "I 


288  LIFE    OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

wish  with  all  my  heart  that  Virginia  was  out  of  the 
Union.  These  overgrown  states  are  always  trouble 
some."  And  later,  (Dec.  22,  1803,)  "I  feel,  I  freely 
confess,  no  affection  for  the  general  government.  It  is 
Virginian  all  over;  and  you  may  depend  upon  it,  this 
sentiment  daily  gains  ground  in  New  Hampshire. 
We  feel  that  we  are  Virginia  slaves  now,  and  that  we 
are  to  be  delivered  over  to  Kentucky  and  the  other 
Western  States,  when  our  Virginia  masters  are  tired  of 
us.  Is  it  possible  that  we  can  long  stick  together,  as 
a  nation,  when  there  is  so  little  cement,  and  so  much 
repelling  force  in  this  heterogeneous  mass?  Man  is  a 
gregarious  animal,  it  is  true;  but  nature  leads  to 
small  herds ;  and  herds  are  not  gregarious." 

Other  passages,  of  the  same  import  with  the  pre 
ceding,  might  be  quoted  from  Mr.  Plunder's  letters  of 
this  session ;  but  these  are  sufficient  to  show  that  he 
was  not  mistaken,  when,  at  a  later  period,  he  said 
that  he  was  himself,  at  this  time,  a  disunionist.  The 
answers  which  he  received,  in  reply  to  his  letters 
on  this  subject,  expressed  universally  a  concurrence 
of  opinion  as  to  the  evils  of  the  times ;  but  did  not 
generally  respond  favorably  to  the  hints  of  disunion 
thus  thrown  out.  Some  of  them,  however,  did  thus 
respond.  One,  from  a  distinguished  divine  and  poli 
tician  of  Massachusetts,  Jedediah  Morse,  expressed, 
very  distinctly,  a  feeling  then  beginning  to  show 
itself  among  certain  ardent  politicians  of  that  state. 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  289 

"I  cannot  but  hope,"  he  says,  (February  3d,  1804,)  "that 
New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  and  Connecticut  will  outride 
the  storm  that  threatens  the  ruin  of  our  country.  If  we  were 
peaceably  severed  from  the  rest  of  the  United  States,  with 
perhaps  some  other  states  joined  with  us,  and  left  to  manage 
our  own  affairs  in  our  own  way,  I  think  we  should  do  much 
better  than  we  now  do.  Our  empire  is  growing  unwieldy ; 
and  must,  I  think,  ere  long  break  in  pieces.  Some  think  the 
sooner  the  better." 

To  this  Mr.  Plumer  replied,  (March  10th:) 

"  I  hope  the  time  is  not  far  distant,  when  the  people  east 
of  the  North  River  will  manage  their  own  affairs  in  their  own 
way,  without  being  embarrassed  by  regulations  from  Virginia ; 
and  that  the  sound  part  will  separate  from  the  corrupt." 

The  preceding  extracts  are  from  speeches  and  let 
ters  written  at,  or  near  the  time  of  the  events  to 
which  they  refer.  But  the  subject  came  unexpect 
edly  before  the  public  in  1828,  in  consequence  of 
certain  statements  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  then 
President  of  the  United  States,  in  relation  to  this 
project  of  1803-4.  In  explanation  of  a  statement 
made  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  Mr.  Adams  alleged,  (October 
21st,  1828,)  that  the  object  of  "certain  leaders"  of 
the  Federal  party  in  Massachusetts,  in  1808,  "was, 
and  had  been  for  several  years,  a  dissolution  of  the 
Union,  and  the  establishment  of  a  separate  confeder 
acy."  This  "he  knew  from  unequivocal  evidence, 

19 


290  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

though  not  provable  in  a  court  of  law."  This  design, 
he  said,  (December  30th,  1828,)  "had  been  formed  in 
the  winter  of  1803-4,  immediately  after,  and  as  a  con 
sequence  of,  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana.  It  had  gone 
to  the  length  of  fixing  upon  a  military  leader  for  its 
execution.  The  author  of  the  written  plan  was 
named  to  me, — a  distinguished  citizen  of  Connecticut. 
I  was  told  it  had  originated  there,  and  had  been 
communicated  to  individuals  at  Boston,  at  New  York, 
and  at  Washington."  These  statements  of  Mr.  Adams 
were  assailed  from  various  quarters  with  great  vehe 
mence,  and  their  truth  denied,  with  many  injurious 
imputations  on  their  author.  Under  these  circum 
stances,  Mr.  Plumer  wrote  to  Mr.  Adams  the  follow 
ing  letter : 

"  EPPING,  N.  H.,  December  20,  1828. 
"During  the  long  and  eventful  session  of  Congress  of 
1803  and  1804,  I  was  a  member  of  the  Senate,  and  was  at 
the  city  of  Washington  every  day  of  that  session.  In  the 
course  of  the  session,  at  different  times  and  places,  several  of 
the  Federalists,  Senators  and  Representatives,  from  trie  New 
England  States,  informed  me  that  they  thought  it  necessary  to 
establish  a  separate  government  in  New  England,  and  if  it 
should  be  found  practicable,  to  extend  it  so  far  south  as  to 
include  Pennsylvania ;  but  in  all  events  to  establish  one  in 
New  England.  They  complained,  that  the  slave-holding  states 
had  acquired,  by  means  of  their  slaves,  a  greater  increase  of 
Representatives  in  the  House  than  was  just  and  equal ;  that  too 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK.  291 

great  a  portion  of  the  public  revenue  was  raised  in  the  North 
ern  States,  and  too  much  of  it  expended  in  the  Southern  and 
Western  States ;  and  that  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana,  and 
the  new  states  that  were  formed,  and  those  to  be  formed  in 
the  West  and  in  the  ceded  territory,  would  soon  annihilate 
the  weight  and  influence  of  the  Northern  States  in  the 
government. 

"Their  intention,  they  said,  was  to  establish  their  new 
government  under  the  authority  and  protection  of  state  gov 
ernments  ;  that  having  secured  the  election  of  a  governor 
and  a  majority  of  a  legislature  in  a  state  in  favor  of  a  separa 
tion,  the  legislature  should  repeal  the  law  authorizing  the 
people  to  elect  Representatives  to  Congress,  and  the  legisla 
ture  decline  electing  Senators  to  Congress,  and  gradually  with 
draw  the  state  from  the  Union,  establish  custom-house  officers 
to  grant  registers  and  clearances  to  vessels,  and  eventually 
establish  a  Federal  government  in  the  Northern  and  Eastern 
States ;  and  that  if  New  England  united  in  the  measure,  it 
would  in  due  time  be  effected  without  resorting  to  arms. 

"  Just  before  that  session  of  Congress  closed,  one  of  the 
gentlemen  to  whom  I  have  alluded,  informed  me  that 
arrangements  had  been  made  to  have,  the  next  autumn,  in 
Boston,  a  select  meeting  of  the  leading  Federalists  in  New 
England,  to  consider  and  recommend  the  measures  necessary 
to  form  a  system  of  government  for  the  Northern  States,  and 
that  Alexander  Hamilton,  of  New  York,  had  consented  to 
attend  that  meeting. 

"  Soon  after  my  return  from  Washington,  I  adopted  the 
most  effectual  means  in  my  power  to  collect  the  opinions  of 
well-informed  leading  Federalists  in  New  Hampshire,  upon 
the  subject.  I  found  some  in  favor  of  the  measure,  but  a 


292  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

great  majority  of  them  decidedly  opposed  to  the  project ;  and 
from  the  partial  and  limited  inquiries  I  made  in  Massachusetts, 
the  result  appeared  to  me  nearly  similar  to  that  in  New 
Hampshire. 

"The  gentleman  who,  in  the  winter  of  1803  and  1804, 
informed  me  there  was  to  be  a  meeting  of  Federalists  in  the 
autumn  of  1804,  at  Boston,  at  the  session  of  Congress  in  the 
winter  of  1804  and  1805,  observed  to  me  that  the  death  of 
General  Hamilton  had  prevented  that  meeting ;  but  that  the 
project  was  not  and  would  not  be  abandoned. 

"I  owe  it  to  you  as  well  as  myself,  to  state  explicitly, 
that  in  the  session  of  Congress,  in  the  winter  of  1803  and 
1804,  I  was,  myself,  in  favor  of  forming  a  'separate  govern 
ment  in  New  England,  and  wrote  several  confidential  letters 
to  a  few  of  my  friends  recommending  the  measure.  But 
afterwards,  upon  thoroughly  investigating  and  maturely  con 
sidering  the  subject,  I  was  fully  convinced  that  my  opinion  in 
favor  of  separation  was  the  most  erroneous  that  I  ever  formed 
upon  political  subjects.  The  only  consolation  I  had  was  that 
my  error  in  opinion  had  not  produced  any  acts  injurious  to 
the  integrity  of  the  Union.  When  the  same  project  was 
revived  in  1808  or  1809,  during  the  embargo  and  non- 
intercourse,  and  afterwards,  during  the  war  of  1812,  I  used 
every  effort  in  my  power,  both  privately  and  publicly,  to 
defeat  the  attempt  then  made  to  establish  a  separate  inde 
pendent  government  in  the  Northern  States. 

"  You  are  at  liberty  to  make  such  use  of  this  communica 
tion  as  you  shall  consider  proper. 

"  Accept  the  assurance  of  my  high  respect  and  esteem. 

WILLIAM  PLUMER." 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  293 

The  publication  of  this  letter  led  to  some  abusive 
attacks  on  its  author,  and  to  denials,  more  or'  less 
explicit,  on  the  part  of  several  persons  who  were 
members  of  Congress  from  Connecticut  in  1803-4, 
as  to  their  knowledge  of  any  such  design.  One  of 
these,  Calvin  Goddard,  says,  "I  never  did,  during  that 
or  any  other  period,  know,  hear  of,  or  suspect  the 
existence  of  any  such  project."  Another,  Simeon 
Baldwin,  says,  that  he  "never  heard  from  any  Feder 
alist,  then  or  at  any  other  time,  the  suggestion  of  a 
plan  to  dissolve  the  Union,  or  an  intimation  of  a  wish 
that  such  an  event  might  take  place."  A  third,  John 
Davenport,  says,  that  he  does  not  "  believe  in  the 
existence  of  any  such  plan,  excepting  only  in  the 
brains  of  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Plumer."  A  fourth, 
John  Cotton  Smith,  says,  that  he  does  "not  believe 
that  any  plan  of  a  division  of  the  Union  was  ever 
contemplated,  even  for  a  moment,  by  any  Federalist, 
in  or  out  of  Congress,  distinguished  for  either  talents 
or  influence."  James  Hillhouse's  statement  runs  thus: 
"I  can  with  confidence  say  that  during  the  session  of 
Congress  (of  ISO 3-4,)  or  at  any  other  time,  either 
before  or  since,  I  never  heard  or  knew  of  any  com 
bination  or  plot,  among  Federal  members  of  Congress, 
to  dissolve  the  Union,  or  to  form  a  northern  or  eastern 
confederacy."  Harrison  Gray  Otis  and  his  eleven 
associates,  in  their  controversy  with  Mr.  Adams,  say, 
(January  28,  1829,)  "we  solemnly  disavow  all  knowl- 


294  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

edge  of  such  a  project,  and  all  remembrance  of  the 
mention  of  it,  or  of  any  plan  analogous  to  it,  at  that 
or  any  subsequent  period." 

To  those  familiar  with  the  history  of  the  country 
from  1803  to  1805,  these  statements,  high  as  is  the 
character  of  their  authors,  will  be  received  with  many 
grains  of  allowance.  To  some  it  will  seem  that  they 
must  have  been  framed  in  accordance  with  the 
maxim,  held  good  among  lawyers,  "to  deny  every 
thing  and  call  for  the  proofs."  The  denials  were 
such  as  we  have  seen ;  the  proofs  were  loudly  called 
for.  These,  so  far  as  the  subject  of  this  memoir  is 
concerned,  it  is  my  business  to  present.  It  is,  how 
ever,  with  no  wish  to  revive  controversy  on  this  sub 
ject,  and,  least  of  all,  to  cast  censure  on  any  one,  but 
in  justice  to  the  memory  of  a  man  who  could  not  be- 
mistaken  in  the  facts  which  he  related,  and  whose 
veracity  those  who  knew  him  best  would  be  the  last 
to  question,  that  the  subject  has  been  here  introduced, 
and  will  be  further  considered  in  other  parts  of  this 
work.  The  extracts  already  given  from  Mr.  Plumer's 
letters,  show  that  he  was  at  this  time  himself  in  favor 
of  disunion.  Those  which  follow  will  show  that  he 
was  not  the  only  disunionist  of  that  day.  I  begin 
with  his  own  statements,  arranged  in  chronological 
order,  some  of  them  made  before,  others  at  the  time 
of  the  controversy  of  1828-9. 

Under  date  of  November  23,  1806,  in  his  journal, 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  295 

the  following  statement  occurs,  in  a  notice  of  Aaron 
Burr.  It  is  given  as  an  instance  of  Burr's  art  in  pro 
ducing  an  impression  on  others,  without  committing 
himself  by  an  express  statement  of  his  own  opinions. 

"  In  the  winter  of  180-1,  Timothy  Pickering,  James  Hill- 
house,  myself  and  others  dined  with  him  (Burr)  one  day. 
Mr.  Hillhouse  unequivocally  declared  that  it  was  his  opinion 
that  the  United  States  would  soon  form  two  distinct  and 
separate  governments.  On  this  subject,  Mr.  Burr  conversed 
very  freely  ;  and  the  impression  made  on  my  mind  was,  that 
he  not  only  thought  such  an  event  would  take  place,  but  that 
it  was  necessary  that  it  should.  To  that  opinion  I  was  myself 
then  a  convert.  Yet,  on  returning  to  my  lodgings,  after  crit 
ically  analysing  his  words,  there  was  nothing  in  them  that 
necessarily  implied  his  approbation  of  Mr.  Hillhouse's  obser 
vations.  Perhaps  no  man's  language  was  ever  so  apparently 
explicit,  and,  at  the  same  time,  so  covert  and  indefinite." 

This  extract  relates  principally  to  Burr,  whose 
character  was  the  subject  of  remark,  and  yet  indi 
rectly  to  Mr.  Hillhouse,  yet  it  shows  what  was  his 
opinion  on  the  subject,  at  that  time.  Another  con 
versation  with  the  latter,  on  the  same  day,  will  be 
noticed  in  a  subsequent  extract.  Under  date  of 
February  6th,  1809,  he  says:  "When  the  late  Samuel 
Hunt  intimated  to  me  the  necessity  of  receding  from 
the  Union,  he  observed  that  the  work  must  com 
mence  in  the  state  legislatures;;  so  that  those  who 


296  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

acted  should  be  supported  by  state  laws.     This  he 

said  was  the  opinion  of ,  of  Uriah  Tracy  and 

of  many  others."  I  omit  the  name  of  one  person 
here  introduced,  as  Mr.  Plumer  had  no  personal 
intercourse  with  him,  and  knew  his  opinions  only 
as  reported  by  others.  It  is  the  name,  however,  of 
an  individual,  for  many  years  prominent  in  the 
politics  of  Massachusetts,  and  whose  known  opinions 
and  conduct  render  his  views  on  this  question  very 
little  doubtful.  Speaking  of  the  Essex  Junto,  under 
date  of  March  10th,  1810,  he  says,  "Their  prime 
object  is  the  dissolution  of  the  general  government, 
and  a  separation  of  the  states."  (October  20th,  1812,) 
"They  are  anxious  to  prevent  Mr.  Madison's  having 
a  single  electoral  vote  in  New  England,  that  they 
may  promote  their  favorite  object, — a  dismemberment 
of  the  Union."  Under  date  of  August  6th,  1812,  he 
says,  "The  last  time  I  saw  Mr.  Griswold,  which  was 
while  I  was  in  Congress,  he  was  a  zealous  advocate — 
privately,  but  not  publicly — for  the  dismemberment 
of  the  Union."  Under  date  of  July  21st,  1827,  he 
says  that  "long  and  frequent  conversations  with 
Roger  Griswold,  Uriah  Tracy,  Samuel  Hunt,  Calvin 
Goddard,  and  others  induced  me,  at  length,  to  believe 
that  separation  was  necessary  for  the  security  and 
prosperity  of  the  Eastern  States."  He  mentioned  to 
Mr.  Griswold,  as  an  objection  to  the  project,  the 
danger  to  which  its  advocates  might  be  exposed. 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMEK.  297 

Griswold  said  that  this  difficulty  might  be  obviated. 
His  plan  was  "to  do  every  thing  under  authority  of 
the  legislatures  of  the  states."  We  see  here  the 
origin  of  Mr.  Plumer's  idea,  in  the  letter  to  Smith, 
of  "the  infinite  importance  of  preserving  the  state 
governments;  as  a  security  against  the  approaching 
storm."  This  mode  of  withdrawing  from  the  Union, 
under  authority  of  the  state  legislatures,  was,  indeed, 
too  obvious  to  escape  notice.  "It  is,"  said  Randolph, 
(January  31st,  1824,)  "in  the  power  of  the  states  to 
extinguish  this  government  at  a  blow.  They  have 
only  to  refuse  to  send  members  to  the  other  branch 
of  the  legislature,  or  to  appoint  electors  of  President 
and  Vice  President,  and  the  thing  is  done."  Under 
date  of  January  15th,  1828,  Mr.  Plumer  says,  "In 
1804,  he  (Roger  Griswold)  was  in  favor  of  the  New 
England  States  forming  a  Republic  by  themselves, 
and  receding  from  the  Union.  This  opinion  he  com 
municated  to  several  of  his  friends,  of  whom  I  was 
one."  These  extracts  are  all  of  a  date  earlier  than 
that  of  the  Adams  and  Otis  controversy,  and  could 
not,  therefore,  have  been  written  in  reference  to  it. 

Commenting  on  that  controversy,  under  date  of 
March  9th,  1829,  Mr.  Plumer  says:  "I  was  satisfied, 
when  I  wrote  my  letter  to  Mr.  Adams,  and  gave  him 
liberty  to  publish  it,  that  I  should  be  vilified  in  the 
newspapers,  and  in  conversation-  but  a  sense  of  duty 
to  my  injured  friend  moved  my  pen,  and  I  do  not 


298  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

repent  my  writing."  This  remark  is  in  accordance 
with  his  usual  disregard  of  consequences  to  himself, 
where  he  thought  it  his  duty  to  act.  It  could  not 
have  been  pleasant  to  him  to  make  this  avowal  of 
wrhat  he  regarded  as  the  greatest  error  of  his  public 
life, — an  error  known  to  so  few  that,  if  not  thus 
avowed,  it  might  have  passed  unnoticed  by  the 
public.  But  he  saw  his  friend  unjustly  assailed; 
and  it  was  not  in  his  nature  to  withhold  the  testi 
mony  which  it  was  in  his  power  to  give.  A  timid 
man  might  have  stood  by,  in  silence ;  a  selfish  one, 
with  secret  satisfaction  that  he  was  not  himself  so 
assailed.  But  neither  timid,  nor  selfish,  he  had  no 
hesitation  in  speaking  out,  when  his  doing  so  seemed 
to  him  a  duty.  Under  date  of  May  llth,  1829,  he 
says : 

"  There  is  no  circumstance  in  these  publications  that  sur 
prises  me  so  much  as  trie  letter  of  James  Hillhouse.  I 
recollect,  and  am  certain  that,  on  returning  early  one  evening 
from  dining  with  Aaron  Burr,  this  same  Mr.  Hillhouse,  after 
saying  to  me  that  New  England  had  no  influence  in  the  gov 
ernment,  added,  in  an  animated  tone,  ( The  Eastern  States  must, 
and  will  dissolve  trie  Union,  and  form  a  separate  government 
of  their  own ;  and  the  sooner  they  do  this  the  better.'  I 
think  the  first  man  who  mentioned  the  subject  of  dismember 
ment  to  me  was  Samuel  Hunt,  a  Representative  from  New 
Hampshire.  He  conversed  with  me,  often  and  long,  upon 
the  subject.  But  there  was  no  mail  with  whom  I  conversed 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  299 

so  often,  so  fully  and  freely,  as  with.  Roger  Griswold.     He 

was,  without  doubt  or  hesitation,  decidedly  in  favor  of  dis 
solving  the  Union,  and  establishing  a  northern  confederacy. 
He  thought  it  might  be  effected  peaceably,  without  a  resort 
to  arms ;  and  entered  into  a  particular  detail  of  the  mode 
of  effecting  it.  Next  to  Griswold,  Uriah  Tracy  conversed 
most  '  freely  and  fully  upon  this  subject.  It  was  he  who 
informed  me  that  General  Hamilton  had  consented  to  attend 
a  meeting  of  select  Federalists  at  Boston,  in  the  autumn  of 
1804.  I  do  not  recollect  that  he  said  Hamilton  w^as  in  favor 
of  the  measure  ;  but  I  know  he  said  Hamilton  had  consented 
to  attend.  Tracy  said  the  day  for  meeting  was  not  appointed ; 
nor  were  the  persons  who  were  to  attend,  selected ;  but  that  I 
should  be  notified  of  the  time,  and  invited  to  attend.  It  was 
Tracy,  who,  in  the  session  of  1804-5,  informed  me  that  the 
death  of  Hamilton  had  prevented  the  meeting  in  Boston  ;  but, 
he  added,  the  plan  of  separation  is  not  abandoned.  The  three 
men  last  named,  Tracy,  Griswold,  and  Hunt,  were  the  men 
with  whom  I  principally  conversed  on  that  subject. 

"One  day,  in  the  session  of  1804-5,  I  distinctly  recollect 
walking,  about  two  hours,  with  Timothy  Pickering,  round  the 
northerly  and  easterly  lines  of  the  city  of  Washington ;  and 
on  that  walk  no  other  person  accompanied  us.  I  perfectly 
recollect  his  conversing  with  me  at  that  time,  as  if  he  were 
desirous  of  saying  something  to  me,  which  he  hesitated  to 
communicate.  His  manner  made  such  a  strong  and  deep 
impression  on  my  mind,  that  I  shall  never  forget  it.  At 
length,  he  said,  that  he  thought  the  United  States  were  too 
large,  and  their  interests  too  variant,  for  the  Union  to  continue 
long  ;  and  that  New  England,  New  York,  and  perhaps,  Penn- 


300  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

sylvania,  might  and  ought  to  form  a  separate  government. 
He  then  paused,  and,  looking  me  fully  in  the  face,  awaited  my 
reply.  I  simply  asked  him,  if  the  division  of  the  states  was 
not  the  object  which  General  Washington  most  pathetically 
warned  the  people  to  oppose.  He  said,  '  Yes,  the  fear  of  it 
was  a  ghost,  that,  for  a  long  time,  haunted  the  imagination  of 
that  old  gentleman.'  I  do  not  recollect  that  he  afterwards 
mentioned  to  me  the  subject  of  dismemberment." 

It  should  be  here  observed,  that  before  the  date  of 
this  conversation,  Mr.  Plumer  had  himself  ceased  to 
be  a  disunionist.  Of  Hunt,  Mr.  Plumer,  under  date 
of  July  31st?  1831,  says:  "His  object  was  to  divide 
the  United  States  into  two  separate  independent  gov 
ernments;  the  states  easterly  of  Maryland  to  unite 
and  form  a  government  more  energetic  and  more 
favorable  to  commerce,  than  the  one  which  then 
existed.  To  effect  this  object,  lie  corresponded  with 
a  considerable  number  of  influential  Federalists  in 
various  states."  Under  date  of  June  4, 1840,  he  says, 
that  Tracy  told  him,  in  the  winter  of  1804,  "that  he 
was  in  favor  of  the  Northern  States  withdrawing 
from  the  Union." 

On  reviewing  this  testimony,  it  may  be  remarked 
that  there  is  no  direct  contradiction  between  the  state 
ments  of  Messrs.  Ilillhouse  and  Plumer.  The  former 
says,  that  he  knew  of  no  combination  or  plot  to  dis 
solve  the  Union.  The  latter,  that  Ilillhouse  told  him 
the  Eastern  States  must  and  would  dissolve  the  Union, 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  301 

and  the  sooner  they  did  it  the  better.  The  one  is  the 
avowal  of  an  opinion  merely ;  the  other,  the  denial 
of  any  plan  formed  to  carry  that  opinion  into  effect. 
It  is  observable  that  Mr.  Pickering,  though  alive  at 
the  Adams  controversy,  took  no  part  in  it.  He  was 
not  the  man  to  deny  any  well  considered  opinion 
which  he  might  have  entertained,  because  it  would 
subject  him  to  reproach.  Mr.  Plumer  believed,  on 
evidence  which  he  deemed  conclusive,  that  some 
other  prominent  men,  several  especially  in  Massa 
chusetts,  were  concerned  in  this  design,  or  approved 
of  it ;  but  they  are  not  named  here,  as  he  had  no 
direct  personal  communication  with  them  on  the  sub 
ject.  As  to  the  proposed  meeting  for  consultation,  at 
Boston,  in  1804,  it  should  be  remarked,  that  to  consult 
on  a  project  does  not  necessarily  imply  that  the  per 
sons  consulting  have  made  up  their  minds  in  its  favor; 
and  still  less,  that  they  are  prepared,  if  so  decided,  to 
follow  up  their  opinions  with  correspondent  action. 
It  does,  however,  imply  that  the  project  was  one 
deserving  serious  consideration,  wrhen  such  men  as 
Hamilton,  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  Federal 
party,  Griswold,  its  leader  in  the  House,  and  such 
Senators  as  Tracy,  Pickering,  Hillhouse  and  Plumer 
were  to  be  members  of  a  meeting  of  "  select  Fed 
eralists,"  by  whom  it  was  to  be  discussed,  and,  if  found 
feasible,  adopted. 


302  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

With  respect  to  Hamilton's  views  on  the  subject  of 
disunion,  Mr.  Plumer  affirmed  nothing  in  his  letter  to 
Adams,  as  he  knew  nothing  of  them  at  that  time.  He 
was  afterwards  satisfied  that,  if  Hamilton  had  attend 
ed  the  proposed  meeting,  it  would  have  been  to  dis 
suade  his  friends  from  the  project.  On  this  subject, 
De  Witt  Clinton  made  the  following  statement,  Janu 
ary  31,  1809,  in  the  Senate  of  New  York: 

"  It  is  perhaps  known  to  but  few,  that  the  project  of  a  dis 
memberment  of  this  country  is  not  a  novel  plan,  growing  out 
of  the  recent  measures  of  the  government,  as  has  been  pre 
tended.  It  has  been  cherished  by  a  number  of  individuals 
for  a  series  of  years.  A  few  months  before  the  death  of  a 
distinguished  citizen,  whose  decease  so  deeply  excited  the 
public  sensibility,  it  was  proposed  to  him  to  enlist  his  great 
talents  in  the  promotion  of  this  most  nefarious  scheme ;  and 
to  his  honor  be  it  spoken,  it  was  rejected  by  him  with  abhor 
rence  and  disdain." 

This  testimony  of  Clinton,  to  the  existence  of  the 
project  of  1803-4,  and  to  Hamilton's  disapprobation 
of  it,  is  independent  of  that  of  Adams  and  Plumer, 
from  neither  of  whom  did  he  derive  any  information 
on  this  subject.  It  agrees  perfectly  with  what  Rufus 
King  told  Adams,  at  the  time,  thus  adding  a  fourth 
witness  to  the  fact,  each  independent  of  the  others. 
On  his  way  home  from  Washington,  Adams  called  on 
King,  (April  8th,  1804,)  at  New  York. 


LIFE     OP     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  303 

"  I  found,"  lie  says,  "  there  sitting,  Mr.  Timothy  Pickering, 
who,  shortly  after  I  went  in,  took  leave  and  withdrew.  Mr. 
King  said  to  me,  '  Colonel  Pickering  has  been  talking  to  me 
about  a  project  they  have  for  a  separation  of  the  States,  and 
a  northern  confederacy ;  and  he  has  also  been,  this  day,  talk 
ing  of  it  with  General  Hamilton.  Have  you  heard  anything 
of  it  at  Washington  ?'  I  said  I  had — much — but  not  from 
Colonel  Pickering.  [Adams  and  Pickering,  though  colleagues, 
were  not  friends.]  ( Well,'  said  Mr.  King,  '  I  disapprove 
entirely  of  the  project ;  and  so  I  have  told  him ;  and  so,  I 
am  happy  to. tell  you,  does  General  Hamilton.'  ' 

The  preceding  extract  is  from  a  pamphlet,  written 
by  Mr.  Adams,  in  1829,  but  not  yet  published.  The 
following  extracts  are  from  his  letters  to  Mr.  Plumer, 
the  first  dated  December  31,  1828  : 

fs  Much  of  my  information,  at  the  time,  was  collected  from 
Mr.  Tracy,  the  Senator  from  Connecticut,  who  disapproved 
the  project,  but  was,  I  believe,  made  acquainted  with  it  in  all 
its  particulars.  I  think,  though  I  am  not  sure,  that  it  was  he 
who  named  to  me  the  writer  of  the  plan  by  which  the  sepa 
ration  was  to  be  effected,  with  three  alternatives  of  boundary. 
1.  If  possible,  the  Potomac.  £.  The  Susquehanna.  3.  The 
Hudson.  That  is,  the  northern  confederacy  was  to  extend, 
if  it  should  be  found  practicable,  so  as  to  include  Maryland. 
This  was  the  maximum.  The  Hudson,  that  is,  New  England 
and  a  part  of  New  York,  was  the  minimum.  The  Susque 
hanna,  or  Pennsylvania,  was  the  middle  term.  There  were 
moments  of  weariness  and  disgust  in  my  own  mind  at  the 


04  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK. 


errors  and  vices  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  administration,  when  I 
almost  despaired  of  the  Union  myself.  That  it  affected  you 
to  the  extent  at  one  time  of  contemplating  with  favor  the  sub 
stitution  of  another  and  more  compassable  system  of  confed 
eration,  can  be  no  disparagement  to  your  understanding  or 
your  heart." 

It  may  be  here  remarked,  that  Adams  says,  that 
Tracy  "  disapproved  the  project/'  and  Plumer,  that  he 
"  was  in  favor  of  the  Northern  States  withdrawing 
from  the  Union."  Tracy,  finding  Adams  averse  to 
the  project,  may  have  conversed  with  him  so  cau 
tiously,  as  to  leave  on  his  mind  the  impression  that 
they  did  not  differ  materially  in  this  respect ;  while 
to  Plumer,  who  was  in  favor  of  it,  he  may  have 
expressed  directly  his  approbation  of  the  plan.  With 
the  plan  itself,  they  both  agree  that  he  was  ac 
quainted.  Or,  it  may  be,  as  is  not  unusual  in  such 
cases,  the  plan  might  have  appeared  to  him,  at  times, 
feasible  and  even  necessary,  and  under  other  aspects 
impracticable,  and,  therefore,  to  be  disapproved.  To 
determine  whether  it  was  so  or  not,  would  seem 
to  have  been,  in  his  view,  the  object  of  the  proposed 
meeting  in  Boston.  In  March,  1829,  Mr.  Adams 
writes : 

"  Mr.  James  A.  Hamilton,  a  few  days  since,  called  upon 
me,  by  order  of  the  President,  upon  certain  matters  of  public 
concern.  He  said  that,  in  confirmation  of  the  view  I  had 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  305 

taken  of  his  father's  opinions,  at  that  time,  upon  the  dis 
union  project,  there  was  a  letter  from  him  to  Mr.  Cabot, 
protesting,  in  the  most  urgent  manner,  against  it. 

"  He  called  upon  me  again  upon  certain  business  of  the 
department.  I  asked  Mr.  Hamilton  if  he  could  give  me  the 
date  of  that  letter,  which  he  had  mentioned  to  me,  from  his 
father  to  Mr.  Cabot.  He  said  he  believed  he  had  made  a  mis 
take  about  that  letter.  It  was  not  from  his  father,  but  from 
Mr.  Wolcott,  giving  his  father's  views  upon  the  subject.  He 
then  took  from  his  pocket  a  letter,  which  he  said  he  had 
received  that  morning  from  his  younger  brother,  (John,)  and 
from  which  he  read  me  three  or  four  lines,  to  this  effect, — 
that  he  had  obtained  from  Mr.  Wolcott  a  very  full  statement 
respecting  Plumer's  charge  against  their  father,  which  it  fully 
refuted.  I  said,  I  supposed  by  the  term  ( charge,'  the  letter 
meant  your  statement,  that  (as  you  had  been  informed)  Alex 
ander  Hamilton  had  consented  to  attend  the  autumnal  meet 
ing  at  Boston,  in  1804.  He  said  it  did.  He  also  said  there 
was  a  letter  from  his  father,  written  not  more  than  three  days 
before  his  death,  to  Mr.  Sedgwick,  urging,  with  great  ear 
nestness,  every  consideration  in  favor  of  preserving  the 
Union." 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  if  this  statement  of  Wol 
cott  refuted  "Plumer's  charge/'  as  it  is  here  called,  it 
could  only  be  by  showing  that  Hamilton  had  refused 
to  attend  the  proposed  meeting.  This  would  prove 
that  Tracy  was  misinformed  as  to  Hamilton's  answer ; 
but  it  would  also  prove  that  an  application  had  been 
made  to  him  to  attend ;  and,  consequently,  that  such 

20 


306  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

a  meeting  was  to  be  held — a  conclusion  pregnant  of 
much  which  is  pertinent  to  the  present  inquiry.  On 
applying  to  John  C.  Hamilton,  for  a  copy  of  Wolcott's 
statement,  he  informed  me,  (December  17th,  1853,) 
that  "  he  neither  has,  nor  knows  of  any  communica 
tion,  or  memoir,  from  Mr.  Wolcott,  on  the  subject 
referred  to."  What  has  become  of  this  statement 
does  not  appear.  It  is  difficult  to  imagine  that  Mr. 
Adams,  whose  letter  was  written  the  day  after  his 
interview  with  James  A.  Hamilton,  could  have  been 
mistaken  in  his  account  of  what  the  latter  read  to 
him.  In  the  seventh  volume  of  General  Hamilton's 
works,  (published  in  1851,)  there  is  an  article  pub 
lished  by  him,  early  in  1804,  with  a  view  to  dissuade 
the  Federalists  from  voting  for  Aaron  Burr  as  Gov 
ernor  of  New  York,  in  which  he  says  that,  in  New 
England,  "  causes  are  leading  to  an  opinion  that  a 
dismemberment  of  the  Union  is  expedient ;"  and  he 
argues  that  Burr,  if  elected,  might  be  disposed  to  put 
himself  at  the  head  of  this  movement,  and  thus 
become  a  the  chief  of  the  Northern  portion."  Whe 
ther  this  was  written  before  or  after  Hamilton's  inter 
view  with  Pickering  in  April,  does  not  appear.  The 
reader  may  perhaps  consider  the  conversation  above 
noticed,  of  Burr  with  Pickering  and  Hillhouse,  in  the 
preceding  winter,  as  some  confirmation,  however 
slight,  of  Hamilton's  conjecture  as  to  Burr's  designs. 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEIl.  307 

His  own  opinion  of  the  project  appears  in  a  letter, 
dated  July  10,  1804,  to  Theodore  Sedgwick. 

"  I  have  had  on  hand/'  he  says,  "  for  some  time,  a  long 
letter  to  you,  explaining  my  views  of  the  course  and  tendency 
of  our  politics,  and  my  intentions  as  to  my  own  future  con 
duct.  But  my  plan  embraces  so  large  a  range  that,  owing  to 
much  occupation,  some  indifferent  health,  and  a  growing  dis 
taste  to  politics,  the  letter  is  still  considerably  short  of  being 
finished.  I  will  here  express  but  one  sentiment,  which  is 
that  dismemberment  of  our  empire  will  be  a  clear  sacrifice  of 
great  positive  advantages,  without  any  counterbalancing  good  ; 
administering  no  relief  to  our  real  disease,  which  is  Democ 
racy,  the  poison  of  which,  by  a  subdivision,  will  only  be  the 
more  concentrated  in  each  part,  and  consequently  the  more 
virulent.  King  is  on  his  way  to  Boston,  where  you  may 
chance  to  see  him,  and  hear  from  himself  his  sentiments." 

We  here  see  Hamilton  and  King  opposed  to  dis 
union,  as  Adams  had  found  them  to  be  in  the  pre 
ceding  April.  It  also  appears  that  what  Hamilton 
deemed  most  important  in  the  long  letter  to  Sedg 
wick,  to  which  his  son  James  seems,  in  the  conversa 
tion  with  Adams,  to  refer,  was  this  very  subject  of 
"  the  dismemberment  of  our  empire."  Fearful  that 
he  should  not  live  to  complete  that  letter,  he  could 
not  withhold  from  his  friend  his  opinion  on  this  most 
essential  point.  The  disease,  which  they  both  lamented, 
was  Democracy.  This,  not  being  confined  to  any  part 


308  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

of  the  country,  could  not  be  removed  by  excision. 
Fisher  Ames  said,  a  little  later,  (January,  1805,)  "  It 
is  the  opinion  of  a  few,  (but  a  very  groundless  opin 
ion,)  that  the  Union  will  be  divided,  and  the  Northern 
confederacy  compelled  to  provide  for  its  own  liberty." 
In  his  opinion,  the  evil  was  incurable.  "  Our  disease," 
he  said,  (March  10th,  1806,)  "is  Democracy.  Our  Re 
publicanism  must  die  ;  and  I  am  sorry  for  it,"  The 
letter  of  Hamilton  to  Sedgwick  is  dated  two  days 
only  before  his  death.  That  a  knowledge  of  this 
design  was  among  the  causes  which  influenced  him  in 
accepting  the  challenge  of  Burr,  is  not  improbable, 
from  what  he  says  of  the  necessity  of  preserving 
unsullied  his  reputation  for  courage,  that  he  might 
be  useful  "  in  those  crises  of  our  public  affairs,  which 
seem  likely  to  happen."  With  the  pistol  of  Burr 
already  at  his  breast,  can  we  imagine  that  Hamilton 
invented  this  plot  of  "  the  dismemberment  of  our 
empire  ?"  Or,  rather,  can  we  doubt  that  he  believed 
in  its  reality  and  its  imminence ;  and  that  he  felt  it  to 
be  his  duty,  before  going  forth  to  the  field  of  blood, 
where  one  of  his  sons  had  perished  before  him,  and 
where  he  was  himself  so  soon  to  fall,  to  dissuade  his 
friends  from  taking  part  in  it  ?  Other  facts  in  rela 
tion  to  the  project  of  1803-4  might  be  here  adduced ; 
but  my  object  is  answered,  if  I  have  shown  that  it 
had  an  existence,  real  and  palpable,  other  than  "  in  the 
brains  of  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Plumer ;"  and  that  the 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMES.  309 

latter,  when  he  spoke  of  a  design  to  dissolve  the 
Union,  as  being  entertained  by  certain  leading  men 
in  New  England,  spoke  not  at  random,  or  from  con 
jecture,  but  from  his  personal  knowledge  of  their  de 
signs.  Honest  in  his  own  approbation  of  the  plan, 
he  never  doubted  that  others  were  equally  honest  in 
its  adoption,  though,  as  he  soon  afterwards  came  to 
believe,  mistaken  in  their  policy. 

The  project  of  1803-4  is  an  instructive  incident 
in  the  history  of  the  country, — a  design,  formed  with 
deliberation,  by  able,  virtuous  and  patriotic  men, 
which,  though  never  carried  into  effect,  was  not  with 
out  its  influence  on  the  conduct  of  its  projectors  and 
the  course  of  public  measures.  The  acquisition  of 
Louisiana  was  so  decidedly  popular,  even  at  the 
North,  that  no  effective  opposition  could  be  made  to 
it.  Pleased  with  the  purchase,  the  people  gave  them 
selves  no  trouble  to  inquire  whether  it  violated  the 
Constitution,  or  might  ultimately  change  the  balance 
of  power  among  the  states.  The  advantages  were 
present  and  undeniable ;  the  evils  remote,  and,  it 
might  be,  imaginary.  This  the  authors  of  the  dis 
union  scheme  would  have  seen,  and  have  forborne, 
perhaps,  even  to  plan  and  project,  if  they  had  not 
been  smarting,  at  the  time,  under  the  sore  mortifica 
tion  of  that  signal  defeat,  which  had  dashed  to  the 
earth  all  their  most  cherished  hopes,  and  seemed,  in 
"  the  full  tide  of  successful  experiment "  which  fol- 


310  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

lowed  Jefferson's  advent  to  power,  to  be  sweeping 
before  it,  not  their  hopes  and  fortunes  only,  but  all 
which  they  esteemed  as  best  in  the  government  and 
most  sacred  in  the  institutions  of  the  country.  "  Our 
wisdom,"  said  Fisher  Ames,  "framed  a  government, 
and  committed  it  to  our  virtue  to  keep ;  but  our  pas 
sions  have  engrossed  it,  and  armed  our  vices  to  main 
tain  the  usurpation."  "  The  election  of  Mr.  Jefferson 
to  the  Presidency  was/'  says  John  Q.  Adams,  "  upon 
sectional  feelings,  the  triumph  of  the  South  over  the 
North ;  of  the  slave  representation  over  the  free. 
On  party  grounds,  it  was  the  victory  of  professed 
Democracy  over  Federalism,  of  French  over  British 
influence.  The  party  overthrown  was  the  whole 
Federal  party.  The  whole  Federal  party  was  morti 
fied  and  humiliated  at  the  triumph  of  Jefferson." 
Hence  the  reason,  at  once,  and  the  apology  for  the 
earnest  opposition  which  they  waged  to  the  leading 
measures  of  his  administration.  Unsuccessful  in  this 
opposition,  it  is  not  strange  that,  in  the  shipwreck  of 
their  fortunes,  some  able  men  among  them,  pro 
foundly  impressed  with  the  value  of  the  great 
interests  at  stake,  and  seeing  no  hope  of  relief  by  a 
change  of  measures,  while  the  South,  with  its  slave- 
holding  influence,  continued  to  govern  the  country, 
should  have  regarded  disunion  as,  in  the  last  resort, 
the  only  sure  deliverance  from  the  evils  which  they 
already  felt,  and  the  yet  greater  which  they  feared. 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  311 

That  they  mistook  the  remedy,  we  may  well  believe; 
but  history,  in  recording  their  error,  will  do  justice  to 
their  motives.  History,  indeed,  is  full  of  such  mis 
taken  remedies  for  real  or  imaginary  evils, — the 
impracticable  schemes  of  honest,  but  disappointed, 
and  thence  short-sighted  politicians, — "  fears  of  the 
brave  and  follies  of  the  wise."  Though,  now  that 
the  feelings  and  the  apprehensions  which  gave  rise 
to  such  designs  have  passed  away,  we  may  regard 
them  with  disapprobation,  or  with  regret,  we  can 
neither  doubt  their  existence,  nor  disbelieve  >  the 
accounts  of  those  who  were  acquainted  with,  or  con 
cerned  in  them. 

The  subject  of  these  latter  pages  has  been,  in  cer 
tain  respects,  an  unpleasant  one  to  me,  as  it  may  be 
to  some  of  my  readers.  But  it  could  not  be  avoided. 
The  path  of  duty  was  plain  before  me.  The  charac 
ter  of  Mr.  Plumer  had  been  most  vehemently  assailed 
in  this  matter,  and  the  truth  of  his  statements  loudly 
denied ;  and  that,  too,  with  an  imposing  array  of 
names,  and  a  weight  of  character,  which  demanded 
and  even  challenged  reply.  It  was  not  for  his  biog 
rapher,  under  such  circumstances,  to  shrink  from  an 
exposition  of  the  facts,  which  repel  that  assault,  and 
place  his  veracity,  in  this  case,  as  it  justly  is  in  all 
others,  beyond  question  or  reproach.  This  exposition 
has  been  made  in  no  unfriendly  spirit  towards  the 


312  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

living  or  the  dead,  and  with  no  imputation  on  any 
one  of  ungenerous  or  unmanly  motives.  The  same 
spirit  will  be  preserved  in  what  follows,  in  subsequent 
chapters,  on  this  subject  of  disunion.  I  have  here, 
as  in  other  cases,  quoted,  and  shall  continue  to  quote, 
though  at  the  expense  of  some  prolixity,  the  words 
of  the  persons  whose  opinions  I  would  represent, 
rather  than  run  the  risk  of  mistaking  their  meaning, 
by  attempting  to  express  it  in  my  own  language. 
Nor  have  I,  by  detaching  them  from  the  context, 
knowingly  given  them  a  meaning,  in  any  case,  differ 
ent  from  that  which  they  were  intended  to  express. 
I  have  here,  as  elsewhere,  added  the  dates,  both  as 
furnishing  references,  and  as  connecting  the  words 
quoted  with  contemporaneous  events,  often  necessary 
to  their  full  understanding. 


CHAPTER     VIII. 

THE    SENATOR.— (CONTINUED.) 

RETURNING  from  the  heated  atmosphere  of  Wash 
ington,  in  the  spring  of  1804,  with  the  excited 
feelings  of  an  eager  politician,  Mr.  Plumer  felt  sensi 
bly  the  indifference  of  many  of  his  Federal  friends 
to  the  course  of  public  events.  Governor  Oilman 
had  been  re-elected  in  March ;  but  a  majority  of  both 
Houses  was  Republican,  and  that  party  looked  with 
confidence  to  the  next  trial  of  strength  to  give  them 
the  entire  control  of  the  state.  Under  these  circum 
stances,  many  Federalists  were  disposed  to  give  up 
the  contest  in  despair ;  but  Mr.  Plumer  attached  too 
much  importance  to  the  questions  at  issue,  to  allow 
any  doubt  of  success  to  relax  his  efforts.  Members 
of  Congress  were  to  be  chosen  in  August,  and  Elec 
tors  of  President  and  Vice-President,  in  November. 
He  thought  it  of  great  importance  that  New  England 
should  preserve  its  Federalist  representation  in  Con 
gress,  and  retain  the  party  supreme  in  the  state  gov 
ernments.  He  took  the  most  active  measures,  there 
fore,  to  bring  out  the  whole  Federalist  strength  at  the 
August  elections.  Associating  with  himself  five  other 


314  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

persons,  one  from  each  county,  lie  organized  them 
into  a  self-constituted  State  Committee.  Under  this 
committee,  of  which  he  was  chairman,  county  com 
mittees  were  formed,  and  under  these,  town  and 
school  district  committees,  whose  duty  it  was  to  bring 
every  Federal  voter  to  the  polls,  and  secure,  as  far  as 
possible,  the  wavering  and  doubtful  to  their  ranks. 
Similar  political  arrangements  have  since  become  not 
uncommon;  but  this  is  believed  to  have  been  the 
first  instance,  in  this  state,  in  which  a  systematic 
attempt  was  made  to  bring  the  whole  force  of  a 
party,  thoroughly  organized,  to  bear  with  undivided 
weight  on  the  result  of  an  election.  Newspapers 
were  provided  for  gratuitous  distribution  ;  and  post- 
riders  employed  to  distribute  them  in  every  part  of 
the  state.  Among  other  things,  it  was  voted  by  the 
central  committee,  to  have  an  address  written  and  dis 
tributed,  in  a  pamphlet  form,  among  the  people,  and 
the  chairman  of  the  committee  and  Judge  Smith  were 
requested  to  prepare  it.  Smith,  however,  declined 
writing  any  part  of  the  address,  on  the  ground,  that, 
it  was  necessary  for  him,  as  Chief  Justice  of  the  Su 
perior  Court,  whatever  might  be  his  real  feelings,  to 
preserve  an  appearance,  at  least,  of  impartiality, 
which,  he  said,  he  could  not  do  if  known  to  have 
written  an  electioneering  pamphlet.  This  threw  the 
labor  of  the  address  on  the  chairman  of  the  com 
mittee  ;  who,  though  accustomed  to  public  speaking, 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  315 

had  never  written  any  thing  for  publication,  beyond 
an  occasional  newspaper  paragraph.  He,  however, 
set  himself  to  the  task  with  his  accustomed  zeal  and 
activity ;  and  six  thousand  copies  were  printed,  and 
distributed  in  every  town  of  the  state,  on  the  18th  of 
August,  a  few  days  only  before  the  election.  This 
address  was  republished  in  many  Federal  papers,  both 
in  and  out  of  the  state,  and  was  undoubtedly  among 
the  chief  agencies  in  deciding  the  election  in  favor  of 
the  Federalists,  by  an  average  majority  of  eight  hun 
dred  votes. 

It  is  easy,  in  looking  at  this  document,  to  see  that 
the  subject  uppermost  in  the  mind  of  the  author  was 
the  unequal,  and,  he  thought,  unjust  operation  of  the 
measures  of  the  general  government,  as  then  admin 
istered,  011  the  rights  and  the  interests  of  New  Eng 
land.  After  a  brief,  but  able  examination  and  defence 
of  the  Federalist  administrations  of  Washington  and 
Adams,  and  a  comparison  of  them  with  the  Republican 
one  of  Jefferson,  not  at  all  to  the  advantage  of  the 
latter,  he  proceeds  to  point  out  the  unequal  burdens 
imposed  on  the  Northern  States,  by  the  measures  of 
the  party  then  in  power ;  and  traces  all  the  evils  suf 
fered  to  the  existence  of  slavery  in  the  South,  and 
its  representation  in  Congress.  This  slave  representa 
tion,  equal  to  that  of  six  whole  states,  had  made 
Jefferson  President ;  and  had  carried,  by  its  vote  in 
Congress,  almost  every  measure  of  which  the  free 


316  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

states  could  justly  complain.  Banish  the  slave  repre 
sentation  from  the  government,  and  Federalists  would 
still  be  in  the  majority.  That  this  slave  power  favors 
the  South,  at  the  expense  of  the  North,  is  shown  by 
an  examination  of  the  leading  measures  of  the 
administration,  in  respect  to  the  army  and  navy,  the 
duties  on  foreign  goods,  the  navigation  acts,  the  policy 
pursued  towards  the  Indians,  the  purchase  of  Louisi 
ana,  the  post  office,  •  the  hospital  money,  and  the 
appointments  to  office.  "  The  voice  of  New  England 
is  not  now  heard  in  Congress,"  he  says.  "  Virginia 
influence  directs  every  measure  of  the  government. 
It  has  broken  down  and  destroyed  every  man  who 
has  been  opposed  to  it,  whatever  his  politics  may 
have  been."  While  the  author  disavows  any  design 
to  dissolve  the  Union,  the  whole  strain  of  his  argu 
ment  goes  to  show  that  such  a  measure  would  be  for 
the  advantage  of  the  Northern  States.  This  obvious 
tendency  of  the  address,  though  disclaimed  by  the 
writer,  was  so  strongly  felt  by  others,  that  the  answer 
which  the  ablest  of  his  opponents  made  to  it,  was 
introduced  by  extracts  from  Washington's  Farewell 
Address,  on  the  value  of  the  Union. 

Encouraged  by  his  unexpected  success  in  the  Con 
gressional  election,  the  author  entered  with  equal 
zeal  into  the  Presidential  canvass.  The  same  machin 
ery  was  again  put  in  operation,  and  he  wrote  and 
published  in  the  newspapers  six  numbers,  under  the 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  317 

signature  of  u  Cato,"  on  the  character  of  Mr.  Jeffer 
son  and  his  pretensions  to  the  Presidency.  They 
were  made  up  largely  of  extracts  from  the  writings 
of  Jefferson ;  and  their  object  was  to  show,  that  little 
reliance  was  to  be  placed  on  his  judgment,  or  his  sin 
cerity,  since  he  had,  at  different  periods,  advocated 
the  most  opposite  and  contradictory  opinions.  The 
subjects,  respecting  which  his  conduct  and  opinions 
were  thus  examined,  were  the  naturalization  of  for 
eigners,  the  encouragement  of  domestic  manufac 
tures,  commerce,  the  navy,  the  judiciary,  religion,  the 
Presidential  election  of  1801,  and  his  appointments 
to  office.  In  all  of  these,  he  found  the  usual,  and,  as  he 
thought,  much  more  than  the  usual  inconsistencies  of 
unscrupulous  politicians,  professing  in  theory,  or  while 
in  opposition,  opinions  which,  in  practice,  or  while  in 
office,  they  renounce  or  disregard.  He  thought  ill  of 
Jefferson's  politics,  and  worse  of  his  morals.  His 
efforts  were,  however,  of  little  avail  with  the  public. 
The  opposition  was  daily  losing  ground.  New  Hamp 
shire  voted,  by  a  majority  of  five  or  six  hundred,  for 
Jefferson's  re-election.  Massachusetts  did  the  same  ; 
and  the  Federal  candidate,  Charles  Cotesworth  Pinck- 
ney,  received  only  fourteen  electoral  votes  out  of  one 
hundred  and  seventy-six  in  the  whole  Union. 

This  triumphant  re-election  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  pro 
duced  a  great  change  in  my  father's  mind,  not  as  to 
the  measures  of  the  President,  but  as  to  the  policy  of 


318  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

further  combined  opposition  to  them.  Connecticut 
alone,  of  the  Northern  States,  had  voted  against 
Jefferson's  re-election.  Her  nine  votes,  with  the  three 
of  Delaware,  and  two  from  Maryland,  constituted,  on 
this  occasion,  the  whole  strength  of  the  opposition. 
Was  it  good  policy  in  the  Federal  party,  any  longer 
to  keep  up  its  feeble  and  unavailing  opposition  ? 
As  to  dissolving  the  Union,  with  Democracy  ascend 
ant  in  every  state  but  one  at  the  North,  there  was 
of  course  nothing  more,  at  this  time  and  under  these 
circumstances,  to  be  said  or  done.  He  had,  even 
before  the  result  of  this  election  was  known,  become 
convinced  that,  however  desirable  such  a  measure 
might  be,  it  was,  at  this  time,  impracticable  ;  and 
he  was  not  long  in  reaching  the  yet  more  important 
conclusion,  that  the  design  itself  was  founded  on  a 
mistaken  view  of  the  true  interest  of  even  the 
Northern  States,  and,  therefore,  ought  never  to  be 
entertained.  From  this  time,  without  changing  ma 
terially  his  general  views  of  policy,  as  to  the  measures 
of  the  government,  he  felt  no  longer  the  strong 
directing  motives,  which  had  before  governed  his 
procedure,  and  came  by  degrees  to  look,  first  with  in 
difference,  and  afterwards  with  aversion,  on  projects 
which  had  before  seemed  to  him  important,  as  means 
for  the  attainment  of  objects  which  he  no  longer 
regarded  as  desirable.  The  first  effect  of  this  dis- 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  319 

appointment  was  to  lead  him  to  despair  of  the  per 
manency  of  a  free  government. 

"  More  than  half  my  time,"  he  writes,  "  since  the  adjourn 
ment  of  Congress,  has  been  devoted  to  the  elections.  Can  a 
government  which  requires  so  much,  and  such  unremitted 
attention  to  support  it,  long  continue  ?  I  feel  weary  ;  but  I 
consider  it  my  duty  to  continue  my  efforts.  I  have  ever  con 
sidered  the  existence  of  freedom  here,  as  depending  on  the 
prevalence  of  Federalism.  Perhaps  I  may  have  been,  in  this 
respect,  in  an  error.  Must  we  travel,  as  other  states  have  done 
before  us,  through  Democracy  to  despotism  ?  But  I  will  not 
despair — too  much  wisdom  is  painful — it  conjures  up  too 
many  evils  which,  after  all,  may  be  but  imaginary.  I  write 
this  at  the  moment,  (October  22,  1804,)  of  packing  my  clothes 
for  Washington." 

It  was  with  these  views  that  he  once  more  took 
his  seat  (November  5th,  1804,)  in  the  Senate.  The 
state  of  his  feelings  in  this  respect  may  be  inferred 
from  a  letter  (November  20th?)  which  he  wrote  to 
me : 

"  I  feel  less  interest  in  politics  than  I  did  the  last  year. 
The  decline  of  Federalism  in  the  East  convinces  me  that 
Democracy  must  overrun  us.  As  I  can  do  little  good  by 
being  active,  in  the  present  state  of  parties,  I  think  I  ought 
to  be  more  quiet ;  and  that  this  will  have  a  tendency  to  cool 
down  the  rage  of  party,  and  thereby  bring  our  people  to  a 


320  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     TLUMER. 

state  of  reflection  and  consideration.  I  do  not  mean  that  I 
have,  in  the  least,  changed  my  political  creed.  I  am  still  a 
Federalist.  I  shall,  on  all  occasions,  when  I  am  obliged  to 
act,  act  openly,  and  according  to  my  opinions.  But  I  think, 
when  I  return  home,  if  I  find  New  Hampshire  revolutionized, 
as  I  fear  it  will  be  in  March,  that  I  shall  avoid  the  subject  of 
politics,  and  not  furnish,  by  my  conversation,  fuel  for  the  fire 
of  Democratic  rage.  Let  them  rule  without  opposition  ;  they 
will  the  sooner  divide ;  and  the  sooner  be  prepared  for  a  better 
state  of  things,  in  which  virtuous  men  will  again  be  called  to 
office." 

Though  the  violence  of  his  Federalism  had  passed 
its  culminating  point,  and  he  saw  both  the  folly  of  dis 
union;  and  the  hopelessness  of  Federalist  ascendency, 
his  opposition  to  the  Jeffersonian  policy  was  not  at 
this  time  sensibly  abated.  The  leading  measure  of 
the  session,  the  impeachment  of  Samuel  Chase,  one 
of  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  touched  him  at  a  tender  point.  He  had  always 
attached  great  importance  to  the  independence  of 
the  judiciary ;  and  the  avowed  object  of  the  admin 
istration,  was  to  render  the  judges  dependent  on  the 
popular  will.  Mr.  Giles,  the  administration  leader  in 
the  Senate,  said  to  him,  in  conversation:  "  We  are  to 
sit  in  this  case  as  a  Senate,  not  as  a  court,  and  to 
use  the  same  discretion  in  the  trial,  as  we  do  in  legis 
lation.  We  have  authority  to  remove  a  judge,  if 
he  is  disagreeable  in  his  office,  or  wrongheaded,  and 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  321 

opposed  to  the  administration,  though  not  corrupt  in 
conduct.  Judges  ought  not  to  be  independent  of  the 
co-ordinate  branches  of  the  government ;  but  should 
be  so  far  subservient,  as  to  harmonize  with  them  in 
all  the  great  measures  of  the  administration."  He 
avowed  substantially  the  same  opinions  in  debate  in 
the  Senate.  This  was  saying,  in  effect,  that  if  a  judge 
delivered  an  erroneous  opinion — erroneous  in  the 
view  of  the  Senate — he  might  be  impeached  and 
removed  from  office,  as  guilty  of  high  crimes  and 
misdemeanors.  Samuel  Chase  was  one  of  the  signers 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  is  said  to 
have  been  the  man  who  first  startled  the  ear  of 
Congress,  still  fearful  of  extremes,  with  the  daring 
declaration  that  he  no  longer  owed  allegiance 
to  the  British  king.  Bold,  resolute  and  decisive, 
alike  in  conduct  and  in  language,  he  knew  no  com 
promises  of  opinion  •  and  had  little  regard  for  the 
feelings  or  the  wishes  of  his  opponents.  A  sound 
lawyer  and  an  able  judge,  he  carried  the  prejudices 
of  the  party  politician  with  him  to  the  bench,  and 
had  thus  made  himself  peculiarly  obnoxious  to  the 
dominant  party,  by  what  they  regarded  as  error  of 
opinion,  aggravated  by  insolence  of  demeanor.  The 
impeachment  now  brought  against  him  was  founded 
on  his  conduct  in  the  trial  of  Fries,  for  treason, 
and  Callendar,  for  a  libel,  in  1800,  and  on  one  of 
his  charges  to  a  grand  jury,  in  Maryland,  in  1803. 


21 


322  LIFE    OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

In  these  cases  the  judge,  who  was  a  zealous  Feder 
alist,  was  accused  of  having  allowed  party  feelings  to 
pervert  his  judgment  and  govern  his  decisions,  "  to 
the  subversion  of  justice,  and  the  disgrace  of  the 
character  of  the  American  bench."  The  trial  com 
menced  on  the  9th  of  February,  and  continued,  with 
little  intermission,  till  the  1st  of  March.  It  was 
remarkable,  alike  for  the  importance  of  the  principles 
involved  in  the  issue,  the  dignity  of  the  court,  the 
high  standing  of  the  accused,  the  power  of  his 
prosecutors,  and  the  learning  and  ability  of  his  coun 
sel,  not  less  than  from  the  singularity  of  the  fact,  that 
the  President  of  the  Senate,  who  presided  with  such 
mingled  ease,  grace  and  authority  at  the  trial,  was 
himself  then  under  indictment  for  murder,  and  was 
afterwards  tried  for  his  life  on  a  charge  of  treason 
against  the  United  States, — the  very  crime  for  which 
Chase  had  tried  Fries,  and  in  which  trial  he  was 
accused  of  having  committed  some  of  the  offences 
for  which  he  was  himself  now  arraigned.  Mr.  Plumer 
took  great  interest  in  the  trial  of  this  impeachment ; 
and  his  letters,  journals  and  memoranda  contain  a 
full  account  of  the  proceedings.  A  few  extracts  are 
all  we  have  room  for  in  this  place. 

6 <  Though,  during  the  trial,  I  did  not  visit  Judge  Chase, 
yet,  on  my  accidentally  falling  in  company  with  him,  he  said 
that,  if  this  impeachment  had  been  brought  against  him  twenty 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  323 

years  ago,  lie  should  have  considered  it  the  most  fortunate 
event  of  his  life.  It  would  have  made  him  President  of  the 
United  States.  But  he  was  now  old,  and  grievously  afflicted 
with  the  gout,  and  he  feared  the  prosecution  would  break 
him  down.  Yet,  conscious  of  his  innocence,  he  defied  the 
Senate  to  convict  him  on  any  of  the  charges  brought  against 
him  by  the  House.  The  trial  was  about  half  through,  when 
he  was  seized  with  a  fit  of  the  gout,  and  obtained  liberty  of 
the  Senate  to  return  home.  His  counsel  were  vastly  superior, 
in  talents  and  legal  attainments,  to  the  managers  appointed  by 
the  House.  I  took  full  notes  of  the  testimony,  arguments 
and  authorities  on  both  sides.  Though  the  trial  was  long  and 
fatiguing,  yet,  from  its  novelty  and  importance,  it  was  very 
interesting.  It  engrossed  my  unremitting  attention  for  more 
than  twenty  days.  The  public  felt  a  deep  interest  in  the 
result.  Our  galleries  were  crowded  with  gentlemen  and  ladies 
of  distinction,  not  only  from  the  vicinity,  but  from  distant 
parts  of  the  country.  The  Senators,  during  the  trial,  did 
not  converse  much  with  each  other  respecting  its  merits ;  but 
each  appeared  to  form  an  opinion  for  himself,  without  attempt 
ing  to  influence  others.  There  was  a  full  Senate,  when  the 
final  vote  was  taken ;  and  each  Senator  voted  separately  on 
each  article.  Uriah  Tracy,  of  Connecticut,  after  hearing  the 
testimony,  was  taken  sick,  and  confined  to  his  chamber.  The 
mode  of  proceeding  being  settled,  the  Vice-President  requested 
the  Senate  to  wait  a  moment  for  one  of  its  members.  Mr. 
Tracy  was  brought  in  on  a  couch,  and  led  to  his  seat,  where 
he  continued  for  two  hours,  till  every  question  was  decided. 
The  appearance  of  a  sick  man,  with  a  very  pale  countenance, 
added  to  the  solemnity  of  the  proceeding,  and  made  a  deep 


324  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

impression  on  the  Senate,  the  House  and  the  crowded  specta 
tors  of  the  scene.  Though  I  considered  Judge  Chase  as  hav 
ing,  in  some  few  instances,  been  guilty  of  intemperance  of 
language,  and  imprudence  of  conduct,  unbecoming  the  char 
acter  of  a  Judge,  his  conduct,  even  in  these  cases,  would 
not  have  prevented  my  voting  for  his  appointment  as  a  Judge, 
if  that  had  been  the  question  before  us  ;  much  less  would  it 
justify  his  conviction,  as  guilty  of  high  crimes  and  misde 
meanors.  My  vote,  therefore,  was,  on  each  article,  not  guilty. 
On  one  of  the  articles,  every  Senator  voted  not  guilty ;  on 
four  others,  a  majority  acquitted  him ;  and  on  the  other  three, 
a  majority  found  him  guilty.  But,  as  it  required  two-thirds 
to  convict  him,  the  President  pronounced  him  acquitted  on  all 
the  charges;  and  the  court  adjourned  without  day.  This 
acquittal  of  Judge  Chase  was  a  great  point  gained  in  support 
of  the  Constitution,  and  the  independence  of  the  Judges.  A 
prosecution  commenced  in  the  rage  of  party,  and  impelled  by 
the  whole  influence  of  the  administration,  was  arrested ;  and, 
to  the  honor  of  the  accused,  he  owed  his  acquittal  to  the  votes 
of  his  political  enemies.  Immediately  after  the  Senate  had 
pronounced  judgment  in  the  case,  Randolph,  in  the  House, 
made  a  violent  harangue  against  both  the  Judge  and  the 
Senate,  and  moved  to  amend  the  Constitution,  so  as  to  make  it 
the  duty  of  the  President,  on  the  address  of  Congress,  to 
remove  the  judges  from  office.  Nicholson,  another  of  the 
managers,  proposed  that  the  Legislature  of  each  state  should 
have  authority,  at  any  time,  to  recall  its  Senators.  But  the 
administration,  and  a  majority  of  the  House,  disapproved  of 
these  violent  measures,  and  they  were  rejected." 


LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMEK.  325 

My  father  attached  the  more  importance  to  the 
result  of  this  trial  from  the  belief,  then  general  with 
the  Federalists,  that  the  attack  on  Chase,  if  success 
ful,  would  have  been  followed  by  other  impeach 
ments,  which  would  have  ended,  either  in  removing 
all  the  judges,  or,  if  they  remained  on  the  bench, 
in  rendering  them  subservient  to  the  wishes  of  the 
administration.  He  considered  the  impeachments 
of  Pickering  and  Chase  as  u  parts  of  a  vicious  sys 
tem,  which  extends  to  the  removal  of  every  Federal 
judge  from  both  the  Supreme  and  inferior  Courts." 
But  the  acquittal  of  Chase,  the  most  obnoxious  and 
assailable  of  the  judges,  put  an  end  to  all  such  de 
signs.  "  Impeachment,"  said  Mr.  Jefferson,  "is  a  farce 
which  will  not  be  tried  again."  He  had,  while  the 
trial  was  still  pending,  (January  5th,  1804,)  told  Mr. 
Plumer,  "  that  he  regarded  impeachment  as  a  bung 
ling  way  of  removing  judges."  With  reference  to  this 
trial,  my  father  wrote  to  me,  (March  3d,  1805) : 


"  You  will  hear  before  this  reaches  you,  that  the  greatest 
and  most  important  trial  ever  held  in  this  nation  has  termin 
ated  justly  ;  and  that  the  venerable  judge,  whose  head  bears 
the  frosts  of  seventy  winters,  is  honorably  acquitted.  I  never 
witnessed,  in  any  place,  such  a  display  of  learning  and  elo 
quence  as  the  counsel  for  the  accused  exhibited.  They  con 
veyed  correct  sentiments,  and  pure  principles,  in  so  impressive 
a  manner,  to  intelligent  minds  from  all  parts  of  the  Union, 


326  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

as  must  have  a  salutary  effect  on  the  public,  in  relation  not 
only  to  the  Judiciary,  but  to  the  Constitution  generally." 

(March  10th,  1805.)  "  At  Baltimore,  I  spent  an  evening 
with  Judge  Chase  and  his  family.  Neither  of  his  sons  was 
present ;  but  three  of  his  daughters  were  there,  the  youngest 
perhaps  eighteen.  The  strong,  yet  tender  attachment  they 
manifested  for  him,  and  the  joy  they  exhibited  at  seeing  me, 
who  was  at  once  the  friend  and  the  judge  of  their  father, 
made  a  deep  impression  on  my  feelings.  The  righteous  judg 
ment  of  the  Senate  has  made  the  judge  and  his  family  as 
happy  as  such  an  event  can  render  those  who  prize  reputa 
tion  above  life." 

Though  still  a  Federalist,  my  father  was  no  longer 
anxious  to  keep  up  party  distinctions.  "  I  did,"  he 
says,  "  everything  I  could,  during  the  session,  to  re 
strain  and  destroy  the  spirit  of  party.  With  this  view 
I  opposed,  and  by  my  opposition  prevented,  the  cele 
bration  of  Washington's  birth-day  by  the  Federalists, 
who  had  made  it  on  former  occasions  a  mere  party 
festival.  This  I  thought  peculiarly  imprudent  at  that 
time,  from  the  unhappy  influence  it  would  have  on 
the  trial  of  Judge  Chase,  which  was  then  depending." 

To  his  wife  he  wrote,  (December,  1804) :  "  Yester 
day,  I  dined  with  the  President,  and  was  seated  by 
his  side.  He  has  improved  much  in  the  article  of 
dress.  He  has  laid  aside  the  old  slippers,  red  waist 
coat  and  soiled  corduroy  small-clothes,  and  was 
dressed  all  in  black,  with  clean  linen  and  powdered 


LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER.  32T 

hair.  He  is  very  sociable  and  easy  of  access,  and 
puts  his  company  perfectly  at  their  ease." 

Massachusetts  had,  about  this  time,  proposed  an 
amendment  of  the  Constitution,  depriving  the  Slave- 
holding  States  of  their  slave  representation.  This 
amendment  had  been  postponed  by  the  Legislature 
of  New  Hampshire.  In  a  letter  to  Wm.  A.  Kent, 
(December  31st,  1804,)  he  says,  "  I  was  in  hopes  the 
Court  would  have  decided  the  amendment  proposed 
by  Massachusetts.  Nothing  but  gross  misrepresenta 
tion,  and  the  force  of  party  rage,  can  induce  the 
Free  States  to  acquiesce  in  this  negro  representa 
tion." 

To  me,  speaking  of  some  falsehood  reported  of  him, 
he  wrote,  (January,  17,  1805  :) 


"  In.  times  like  these,  and  indeed  at  all  times,  and  in  all 
nations,  those  who  have  discharged  their  duty  to  their  country 
and  their  God,  have  been  calumniated.  It  is  unreasonable  to 
expect  an  exemption  from  trie  common  lot  of  man.  I  seek 
the  approbation  of  the  well-informed  and  virtuous ;  and  I 
know  that  so  long  as  I  act  faithfully  and  prudently,  I  shall 
enjoy  their  confidence.  But,  beyond  this,  the  honest  man 
has  a  reward  which  the  malice  of  demons  cannot  touch, — the 
consciousness  of  having  done  his  duty.  So  live,  and  so  con 
duct,  my  dear  son,  as  to  enjoy  the  approbation  of  your  own 
mind,  and  that  of  high  heaven." 


328  LIFE    OF    WILLIAM    PLUMES'. 

To  J.  Smith,  (February  7,  1805):  "The  Senate  is 
less  divided  by  the  line  of  Federalists  and  Democrats 
than  I  ever  knew  it  before  to  be.  Our  divisions 
now  arise  from  other  sources,  from  the  merits  of  par 
ticular  measures,  and  from  local  attachments, — from 
Free  States  and  Slave  States,  commercial  and  anti- 
commercial."  The  Senate  passed  at  this  session  a 
bill  providing  for  the  government  of  the  Orleans 
territory.  "I  voted  against  it,"  he  says,  (February, 
1805,)  "because  it  provides  that  the  territory,  when 
it  has  sixty  thousand  free  inhabitants,  shall  be 
admitted  as  a  state  into  the  Union,  upon  the  foot 
ing  of  the  original  states.  This  provision  appears 
to  me  unconstitutional.  I  think  we  cannot  admit 
a  new  partner  into  the  Union,  from  without  the  ori 
ginal  limits  of  the  United  States,  without  the  con 
sent,  first  obtained,  of  each  of  the  partners  compos 
ing  the  firm."  This  opinion  he  had  avowed  on  the 
first  purchase  of  Louisiana,  and  he  never  afterwards 
saw  reason  to  change  it. 

With  this  session  expired  the  term  of  service  of 
Aaron  Burr,  as  Vice-President.  I  find  among  Mr. 
Plumer's  papers,  many  notices  of  this  extraordinary 
man.  Burr  lost,  by  his  conduct  in  the  presidential 
election  of  1801,  the  confidence  of  the  Republican 
party,  without  gaining  the  Federalists.  In  the  New 
York  election  of  1804,  he  was  a  candidate  for  the 
office  of  Governor;  and,  by  the  aid  of  the  Federalists, 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  329 

most  of  whom  voted  for  him,  he  came  near  being 
elected.  Alexander  Hamilton  had  used  his  influence 
against  him,  and  Burr  imputed  his  defeat  to  this 
opposition.  This  led  to  the  fatal  duel,  and  the  death 
of  Hamilton  sealed  the  destiny  of  Burr.  Desperate 
in  his  private  fortunes,  hated  by  the  Federalists,  and 
feared  and  distrusted  by  the  Republicans,  he  had  no 
longer  a  home  in  New  York,  nor  a  party  in  the 
Union.  He  took  his  seat,  however,  in  the  Senate, 
contrary  to  the  usual  practice,  on  the  first  day  of  the 
session.  "  This,"  said  Mr.  Plumer,  (November  7, 
1804,)  in  a  letter  to  John  Norris,  of  Salem,  "  is  the 
first  time,  I  believe,  that  ever  a  Yice-President  ap 
peared  in  the  Senate  the  first  day  of  a  session ; 
certainly,  the  first  (God  grant  it  may  be  the  last) 
that  ever  a  man  indicted  for  murder  presided  in 
the  American  Senate.  We  are  indeed  fallen  on  evil 
times.  To  a  religious  mind,  the  aspect  of  public 
affairs  is  veiled  in  darkness.  The  high  office  of  Pre 
sident  is  filled  by  an  infidel ;  that  of  Vice-President 
by  a  murderer?  To  me,  he  wrote,  November,  1804 : 

"  Colonel  Burr  seems  determined  to  browbeat  and  cajole 
public  opinion.  The  Federalists  treat  him  with  very  great 
coldness.  Those  from  New  England  do  not  visit  him.  In 
the  Senate  chamber,  I  make  a  very  formal  bow  as  he  passes 
me,  but  hold  no  conversation  with  him.  His  manners  and 
address  are  very  insinuating.  Mr.  Jefferson  has  shown  him 


330  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

more  attention,  and  invited  him  oftener  to  his  house,  within 
the  last  three  weeks,  than  he  ever  did  for  the  same  time 
before.  Mr.  Gallatin  has  waited  upon  him  often  at  his  lodg 
ings,  and  one  day  was  closeted  with  him  more  than  two  hours. 
Mr.  Madison,  formerly  the  intimate  friend  of  Hamilton,  has 
taken  his  murderer  into  his  carriage,  and  accompanied  him 
on  a  visit  to  the  French  minister.  Mr.  Giles,  the  present 
ministerial  leader  in  the  Senate,  has  drawn  up  a  paper 
addressed  to  Governor  Bloomfield,  of  New  Jersey,  stating 
that  in  killing  his  antagonist  in  a  fair  duel  Burr  was  not 
guilty  of  murder,  and  requesting  the  governor  to  direct  a 
nolle  proscqui  to  be  entered  on  the  indictment  now  depending 
in  that  state.  This  address  was  not  shown  to  New  England 
Senators.  Mr.  White  of  Delaware,  to  whom  it  was  presented, 
declined  signing  it.  It  was  signed  by  many,  if  not  all  the 
Democratic  Senators  present.  The  Democrats  of  both  Houses 
are  remarkably  attentive  to  Burr.  What  office  they  can  or 
will  give  him  is  uncertain.  Mr.  Wright,  of  Maryland,  said  in 
debate  :  '  The  first  duel  I  ever  read  of  was  that  of  David  kill 
ing  Goliath.  Our  little  David,  of  the  Republicans,  has  killed 
the  Goliath  of  Federalism,  and  for  this  I  am  willing  to  reward 
him.'  They  know  their  man,  and  will  not  choose  to  trust  him 
unnecessarily." 

To  James  Sheafe,  he  writes,  (January,  1805) : 

"When  Judge  Chase  appeared  before  the  Senate,  Burr 
would  not  suffer  a  chair,  which  had  been  provided  for  him, 
to  remain,  but  ordered  it  away.  The  judge  was  obliged  to 
solicit  a  seat,  and  was  interrupted,  and  treated  with  a  degree 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  331 

of  rudeness,  not  to  have  been  expected  from  so  courtly  a  man 
as  the  Vice-President.  His  anxiety  to  please  the  Democratic 
party  certainly  made  him,  on  this  occasion,  overact  his  part ; 
not  at  all  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  more  moderate  among 
them." 

To  his  wife,  lie  writes,  (March  2d,  1805) : 

"  Mr.  Burr  has  taken  his  final  farewell  of  the  Senate.  His 
address  would  have  done  honor  to  a  better  heart.  It  was 
delivered  with  great  force  and  propriety,  and,  as  he  bowed 
and  retired,  we  were  all  deeply  affected,  and  many  shed  tears. 
The  Senate  passed  unanimously  a  vote  of  thanks,  approving  of 
his  official  conduct  as  Vice-President.  I  condemn  as  cordially 
as  any  man  living  his  fatal  rencontre  with  Hamilton,  on  the 
Jersey  shore,  in  July  last ;  but  his  official  conduct  in  the  Sen 
ate,  for  the  last  three  years,  has  fully  met  my  approbation. 
To  acknowledge  this,  in  my  public  capacity,  was  a  debt  justly 
due  from  me,  and  I  have  paid  it  cheerfully.  To-morrow,  at 
half-past  ten  in  the  evening,  I  shall  take  my  departure  from 
this  place.  Anxious,  as  I  am,  to  embrace  again  my  family 
and  friends  at  home,  I  part  with  regret  from  dear  friends 
here,  many  of  whom  I  shall  probably  never  behold  again. 
May  He  whose  tender  mercies  extend  to  the  lily  of  the  valley, 
and  the  feeble  sparrow  of  the  field,  protect  you  and  our  dear 
offspring." 

Mr.  Plumer  found,  on  his  return,  that  the  Repub 
licans  had  carried  the  state,  at  the  March  elections, 


332  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

as  he  had  predicted  they  would.     To  Uriah  Tracy, 
he  writes,  (May  2d,  1805)  : 

"  Democracy  has  obtained  its  long  expected  triumph  in 
New  Hampshire.  John  Langdon  is  Governor  elect.  His 
success  is  not  owing  to  snow,  rain,  hail,  or  bad  roads,  (the 
usual  excuses  for  Federal  failures,)  but  to  the  incontrovertible 
fact,  that  the  Federalists  of  this  state  do  not  compose  the 
majority.  Many  good  men  have  grown  weary  of  constant 
exertions  to  support  a  system,  whose  labors  bear  a  close  affinity 
to  those  of  Sisyphus.  They  feel  disposed  to  attend  to  their 
own  affairs,  and  leave  those  of  the  state  to  philosophers,  who 
can  dissect  the  wing  of  a  butterfly  or  the  proboscis  of  a 
mosquito,  and  are,  therefore,  well  qualified  to  make  and 
administer  the  laws.  In  Massachusetts,  Strong  will  be 
re-elected ;  but  Sullivan  presses  hard  in  his  rear.  That  Com 
monwealth  must  soon  follow  New  Hampshire.  It  will  be  • 
reserved  for  Connecticut  to  preserve  her  steady  habits  yet  a 
little  longer.  Mutability  is  one  of  the  permanent  laws  of 
nature ;  or,  as  our  learned  friend  from  South  Carolina  says, 
'  man  is  man.'  And  now  a  word  as  to  my  dear  self.  I  have 
discontinued  most  of  my  newspapers,  and  devote  my  time  and 
money  to  more  useful  works,  principally  history.  I  labor 
with  my  hands  on  my  farm  as  much  as  four  hours  a  day,  and 
spend  the  residue  in  reading,  writing  and  conversation.  This 
change  of  studies  is  productive  of  more  substantial  pleasure 
than  a  knowledge  of  the  fleeting  events  of  the  day  can  afford. 
The  exercise  is  necessary  to  my  health,  which,  thank  Heaven, 
continues  good." 


LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER.  333 

The  last  of  his  children  was  born  about  this  time. 
He  thus  states  the  fact  in  his  Register :  "  On  the  fifth 
day  of  the  fifth  month,  in  the  fifth  year  of  the  nine 
teenth  century,  I  had  a  fifth  son  born.  These  cir 
cumstances  induced  me  to  call  his  name  Quintus" 
The  next  entry  on  this  subject,  is,  (May  29th,  1805,) 
This  day  my  son  Quintus  died  in  my  arms,  having 
lived  only  five  times  five  days."  This  remarkable  con- 
concurrence  of  fives  in  the  incidents  of  his  birth  and 
death,  is  commemorated  on  his  gravestone,  in  an 
inscription  which,  from  its  singularity,  has  found  its 
way  into  several  collections  of  epitaphs. 

Mr.  Plumer  passed  the  summer  and  autumn  in  the 
society  of  his  friends,  and  in  the  labors  of  the  farm,  to 
which  he  was  always  attached.  The  approaching  ses 
sion  of  Congress  called  him  again  to  Washington. 
Under  date  of  November  17th,  1805,  he  says: 

f ( Late  in  the  afternoon  I  left  my  house  for  the  seat  of  gov 
ernment.  The  regret,  accompanied  -with  tears,  which,  my 
family  showed,  made  the  parting  very  painful.  My  wife  was 
so  much  affected  that  she  could  not  dine  with  us.  18th.  I 
was  the  only  passenger  in  the  stage  from  Exeter  to  Haverhill. 
The  melancholy  occasioned  by  leaving  my  family  still  clouds 
my  mind.  19th.  I  walked  to  Cambridge,  three  miles,  to 
visit  my  son.  My  children  now  engross  my  affections.  Every 
month  affords  me  new  proofs  of  my  attachment  to  them.  I 
converse  with  William  as  with  a  companion ;  and  he,  in  turn, 
makes  me  his  confidant.  I  felt  sad  at  parting  with  him.  In 


334  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

the  evening  I  walked  back  to  Boston.  20th.  Took  my  seat 
in  the  mail  stage,  crowded  with  passengers,  among  whom 
were  Nelson,  Thompson,  and  Tenney,  all  members  of  Con 
gress.  We  arrived  at  Providence  early  in  the  evening.  My 
spirits  were  much  animated  by  meeting  my  friends  Bourne 
and  Hunter  of  Rhode  Island.  21st.  Rode  to  New  London, 
22d.  Arrived  at  New  Haven.  2od.  Stage  so  much  crowded 
as  to  be  very  uncomfortable.  Early  in  the  evening  arrived  at 
Rye.  24th.  Arrived  at  the  City  Hotel  in  New  York.  I 
immediately  entered  my  name  in  the  mail  stage  for  Philadel 
phia  ;  and  having  dined,  I  stepped  into  the  ferry  boat,  and,  in 
ten  minutes,  crossed  the  North  River.  No  one  was  with  me 
in  the  stage,  till  I  arrived  at  Brunswick,  and  then  only  a 
young  Briton.  The  day  and  night  were  stormy ;  but  I  had 
not  a  wet  thread.  25th.  At  8  o'clock,  A.  M.,  I  arrived  at 
Philadelphia  but  little  fatigued.  26th.  I  was  the  only  person 
who  took  the  mail  stage  at  9  o'clock,  A.  M.,  for  Baltimore. 
At  half-past  ten,  P.  M.,  passed,  in  a  small  boat  with  the  mail 
only,  the  Susquehannah,  and  supped  at  eleven  at  Havre  de 
Grace,  in  Maryland.  There  is  only  one  other  line  of  stages 
on  this  road.  27th.  At  7  o'clock,  A.  M.,  arrived  at  Balti 
more.  At  ten,  took  my  seat  with  two  other  passengers  for 
Washington,  where  I  arrived  at  seven,  P.  M.  In  thirty-four 
hours  I  have  safely  performed  a  journey  of  more  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles,  much  less  fatigued  than  I  had  reason 
to  fear." 

Here  is  the  story  of  ten  days'  hard  travel,  in  the 
mail  stage,  from  New  Hampshire  to  Washington, 
some  of  the  way  with  one  passenger,  once  or  twice 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  335 

crowded,  there  being  on  the  route  only  one  other 
line  of  stages! 

The  battle  of  Trafalgar  had  given  England,  at  this 
period,  the  undisputed  dominion  of  the  sea;  while  the 
successes  of  Napoleon  made  France  no  less  formidable 
on  the  land.  The  effect  of  this  sudden  accession  of 
strength  was  to  render  both  these  powers  indifferent 
to  the  good  will  of  other  nations,  and  ready,  on 
the  slightest  pretence,  to  violate  their  rights.  The 
encroachments  of  both  on  the  neutral  and  other 
rights  of  the  United  States,  together  with  the  difficul 
ties  with  Spain  growing  out  of  the  Louisiana  treaty, 
formed  the  chief  objects  of  attention  with  the  govern 
ment  at  this  time.  Many  of  the  proceedings  of  Con 
gress  on  these  subjects  were  in  secret  session.  I  find 
frequent  allusions  to  them  in  the  letters  and  journals 
of  this  period.  The  extracts  which  follow  relate  prin 
cipally  to  these  subjects. 

December  1st,  1805 : 

"  The  Eastern  States  have  an  interest  different  from  that  of 
the  Southern,  and  I  really  wish  we  might  support  that  inter 
est  ;  not,  indeed,  in  such  a  way  as  would  endanger  the  peace 
and  happiness  of  the  Union.  In  Virginia,  a  Federalist  is  still 
a  Virginian ;  but  in  New  England,  a  Federalist  does  not  feel 
or  act  as  a  New  Englander." 

December  3d,  1805 : 


336  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

' '  The  President's  message  is  more  energetic  and  warlike 
than  any  he  ever  before  sent  to  Congress.  The  state  of  the 
nation  seems  to  demand  it." 

December  15th : 

"  O.  Cook,  a  member  from  Maine,  told  me  that  he  had  seen 
a  private  letter  from  James  Bowdoin,  our  minister  at  Madrid, 
in  which  he  writes  that  the  French  court  would  persuade 
Spain  to  settle  our  differences  with  that  nation,  to  our  full  con 
tent,  if  we  would  make  a  present  of  a  handsome  sum  of  money 
to  France.  Samuel  Smith,  Senator  from  Maryland,  told  me 
in  confidence,  that  our  government  would  purchase  of  France 
and  Spain  their  title  to  the  Floridas.  Our  Federal  gentlemen 
generally  decline  visiting  the  Republican  members,  and  so 
vice  versa.  I  visit  my  political  opponents  freely,  converse 
with  them,  avoid  disputes,  and  obtain  much  useful  information 
from  them.  My  rule  is  to  ask  many  questions,  to  converse 
cautiously  and  negatively  on  important  subjects,  and  to  dis 
play,  on  subjects  not  important,  much  frankness.  Whenever 
I  answer  a  question,  I  do  it  correctly ;  for  I  abhor  duplicity. 
But  a  politician  is  bound  to  act  cautiously,  and  not  less  to  be 
on  his  guard  in  conversation  with  his  opponents." 

He  took  strong  ground  in  opposition  to  purchasing 
lands  of  the  Indians ;  both  in  justice  to  the  Indians 
themselves,  whom  he  considered  as  generally  defraud 
ed  in  these  treaties,  and  from  a  desire  to  prevent  the 
too  rapid  extension  of  our  settlements,  and  the  con 
sequent  dispersion  of  our  people.  He  voted,  during 
his  whole  term  of  service,  against  nearly  all  Indian 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  337 

treaties ;  and  on  that  with  the  Cherokees,  ratified  at 
this  time,  (December  19th,,  1805,)  his  vote  was  the 
only  one  in  the  negative.  To  John  Langdon  he 
writes,  December  16th : 

"  Against  Great  Britain  we  have  serious  complaints  for  the 
spoliations  committed  on  our  commerce.  It  will  be  difficult 
to  adjust  these  ;  for  the  measures  of  that  nation  are  parts  of  a 
premeditated  system,  to  which  she  tenaciously  adheres.  Spain 
refuses  to  make  compensation  for  spoliations  committed  on 
our  commerce ;  and  we  have  even  more  serious  difficulties 
with  her  respecting  the  boundaries  of  Louisiana.  Spain  is 
weak,  and  her  colonies  in  America  are  very  accessible  to  us. 
But,  in  case  of  a  war,  I  have  no  doubt  France  would  support 
Spain  against  us. 

To  Thomas  Lowndes  of  South  Carolina,,  he  writes, 
December  30th : 

"  The  President's  message  is  more  bold  and  manly  than 
what  we  have  been  accustomed  to  hear  from  this  administra 
tion.  The  spirit  of  the  people  demands  energetic  measures. 
It  is  confidently  asserted  that  the  administration  is  divided 
upon  the  measures  which  we  ought  to  pursue  both  with  Great 
Britain  and  Spain.  In  this  desert  city  we  have  little  company. 
The  Tunisian  ambassador,  and  the  chiefs  and  warriors  of  some 
Indian  tribes,  who  are  now  here,  serve  to  attract  curiosity  for 
a  day ;  but  we  want  society,  which  cannot  be  obtained  in 
this  place." 


338  LIFE     OP     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

January  1st,  1806 : 

"  The  Federalists  generally  declined  calling  on  the  Presi 
dent  to-day  with  the  compliments  of  the  season,  on  the  ground 
that  they  have  not  been  invited  to  dine  with  him  this  session. 
I  thought  it  a  respect  due  from  me  to  him  as  President,  and 
therefore  went.  Mr.  Adams,  General  Chittenden,  and  Mr. 
Taggart,  were  the  only  Federalists  who  attended  the  levee. 
I  will  never  yield  implicit  obedience  to  the  will  of  any  man 
or  party.  I  see  much  to  approve,  and  much  to  condemn,  in 
all  parties.  The  course  which  I  pursue  must,  and  shall  be, 
one  that  my  judgment  approves.  I  am  determined,  as  a  pub 
lic  man,  to  support  every  measure  which  to  me  appears  right, 
let  the  party,  or  the  motives  of  the  man,  who  brings  it  forward 
be  ever  so  wrong." 

The  House  had  passed,  in  secret  session,  a  bill 
granting  the  President  two  millions  of  dollars  for  the 
extraordinary  expenses  of  the  foreign  intercourse,  in 
other  words,  for  the  purchase  of  the  Floridas ;  and 
this  bill  was  now  before  the  Senate.  It  was  opposed 
by  the  vote  of  every  Federal  Senator,  and  did  not 
receive  the  support  of  all  the  Republicans.  Bradley 
of  Vermont  denounced  it  as  intended  to  purchase 
men  in  Europe,  rather  than  a  province  in  America. 
Mr.  Plumer's  Register  contains  reports  of  the  secret 
debates  in  the  Senate,  on  this  and  other  subjects  con 
nected  with  the  foreign  intercourse  of  the  country. 
But  their  discussions  belong  to  the  history  of  the 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK.  339 

country,  rather  than  of  the  individual,  and  are  there 
fore  not  quoted  here.     January  2d,  1806,  he  says  : 

"  Mr.  Jefferson  intends  to  purchase  the  Floridas.  The 
present  clamor  for  warlike  preparations,  and  the  publication 
of  supposed  aggressions  committed  three  years  since,  are  made 
now  to  prepare  the  public  for  the  purchase  of  the  Floridas. 
I  am  assured,  from  high  authority,  that  France  will  sell  and 
guarantee  both  the  Floridas  to  us  for  seven  millions  of  dollars. 
At  present  I  do  not  see  any  cause  either  for  war  or  the  pur 
chase  of  more  territory." 

On  the  resolution  requesting  the  President  to  open 
negotiations  with  Great  Britain  on  the  subjects  of 
dispute  between  the  two  countries,  Mr.  Plumer  voted 
in  the  negative,  on  the  ground  that  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  President,  and  not  of  the  Senate,  to  institute 
negotiations  with  foreign  powers ;  and  that,  if  the 
request  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  command,  it  is  an 
encroachment  on  the  rights  of  the  executive,  while  if, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  President  is  at  liberty  to  dis 
regard  it,  the  act  is  not  merely  useless,  but  exposes 
the  Senate  to  contempt  by  the  assumption  of  an 
authority  which  it  has  no  means  or  ability  to  enforce. 

"  I  have  full  evidence,"  he  adds,  ee  that  Mr.  Jefferson  has 
no  wish  or  desire  to  involve  the  country  in  a  war.  It  is,  and 
has  long  been,  his  intention  to  negotiate.  But  he  wished  to 
remove  from  himself  to  the  Senate,  the  responsibility  of  form- 


340  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

ing  a  commercial  treaty  with.  Great  Britain.  He  knew  that 
the  old  one  (Jay's,)  occasioned  much  clamor,  and  had  rendered 
a  former  administration  unpopular.  He,  therefore,  wished  the 
Senate  to  place  him  in  a  situation  that  would  not  only  justify, 
but  render  it  necessary  for  him  to  treat.  Many  of  his  friends 
in  the  Senate  were  brought  with  difficulty  to  vote  for  the  reso 
lution.  The  Federal  gentlemen,  on  the  contrary,  were  all 
zealous  for  the  measure.  I  was  the  only  Federalist  who 
voted  against  it.  They  wished  to  place  the  President  in  a 
situation  where  he  would  be  bound  not  only  to  treat,  tut  to 
adopt  Jay's  treaty, — a  treaty  which  he  and  his  friends  had 
formerly  branded  with  every  odious  epithet." 

February  20th : 

"I  voted  against  the  bill  interdicting  the  trade  with  St. 
Domingo.  I  am  not  willing,  as  a  Senator  of  this  free  and 
sovereign  nation,  to  receive  orders  from  Napoleon.  I  will 
never  legislate  under  his  threats.  The  laws  and  usages  of 
nations  justify  the  trade.  Our  interests  urge  us  to  pursue  it. 
But  a  majority  of  the  Senate  decided  otherwise.  Several 
southern  Senators  said  that  the  only  thing  which  reconciled 
them  to  the  bill  was  the  fatal  influence  which  the  independence 
of  the  Haytiens  would  have  on  their  own  slaves." 

March  5th: 

"Mr.  Randolph,  long  the  administration  leader  in  the  House, 
has  been  for  some  time  disaffected ;  and  he  came  out  yester 
day  and  to-day,  in  a  most  bitter  philippic  against  the  President 
and  the  Secretary  of  State,  in  the  debate  on  Grey's  resolution 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER.  341 

to  prohibit  intercourse  with  Great  Britain.  He  has  fairly 
passed  the  Rubicon.  Neither  Jefferson  nor  Madison  can, 
after  this,  be  upon  terms  with  him.  He  has  set  them  .and 
their  measures  at  defiance.  The  attention  of  crowded  gal 
leries  was  fixed  upon  him.  The  Senators  left  their  chamber 
to  listen  to  his  eloquence.  I  heard  him  for  nearly  two  hours 
with  very  great  pleasure.  He  is  certainly  a  man  of  very  great 
talents,  and  by  far  the  best  speaker  in  the  House.  I  have, 
from  my  first  acquintance  with  him,  ever  considered  him  as  a 
man  of  strict  integrity.  But  his  pas  sions  are  strong,  his  pre 
judices  violent  and  inveterate ;  and  he  wants  that  plain  common 
sense,  which  renders  a  man  at  once  safe  and  useful  to  himself 
and  to  others." 

March  12th : 

"  I  have  for  some  time  been  convinced  that  long  speeches  in 
the  Senate  have,  in  most  cases,  very  little  influence  on  the 
vote.  Our  number  is  small,  thirty-four  when  the  Senate  is 
full.  The  documents  are  printed  and  laid  upon  our  tables ; 
and  those  of  us  who  examine  for  ourselves,  and  do  not  vote 
on  the  faith  of  others,  form  from  them  our  opinions.  Con 
versation  follows,  and  a  free  exchange  of  sentiments.  This 
either  confirms  or  changes  our  previous  opinions  ;  and  fixes 
the  votes  of  others,  who  never  give  themselves  the  trouble  of 
examination.  Some  are  implicitly  led  by  the  administration ; 
others  have  their  file  leaders.  When  a  Senator  is  making  a 
set  speech,  there  is  seldom  a  quorum  within  the  bar ;  the 
chairs  are  deserted ;  and'  the  question  is,  in  the  meantime, 
settled  in  conversation  at  the  fireside.  This  conversation  is 
often  so  loud  as  to  interrupt  the  speaker.  Under  these  cir- 


342  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

eumstances,  it  is  difficult  for  any  man  to  make  an  eloquent 
and  effective  speech,  when  he  knows  he  is  not  even  listened 
to.  Add  to  this  that  we  have  no  stenographers,  and  seldom 
any  hearers  in  the  galleries.  I  therefore  make  no  long  and 
not  many  short  speeches.  Yet,  my  influence  is  by  no  means 
confined  to  my  own  vote.  I  am  industrious  in  all  private 
circles,  expressing  openly  and  frankly  my  opinions,  and 
assigning  my  reasons ;  and  I  have  frequently  full  and 
satisfactory  evidence  that  my  brother  Senators,  of  all  parties, 
have  much  confidence  in  my  opinions  ;  for  they  know  that  I 
am  not  governed  by  party  views." 

March  16th,  1806 : 

"  It  seems  now  to  be  agreed  that  Mr.  Jefferson  is  not  to  be 
a  candidate  at  the  next  Presidential  election.  The  disclosure 
of  this  fact,  thus  early,  is  an  unnecessary  and  imprudent  letting 
down  of  his  importance.  It  lessens  greatly  his  influence  on 
the  government.  Most  men  seek  the  rising  rather  than  the 
setting  sun.  The  more  impartially  I  examine  the  character 
and  conduct  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  the  more  favorably  I  think  of 
his  integrity.  I  have,  I  am  inclined  to  think,  done  him 
injustice  in  this  respect.  IMot  that  he  is  a  model  of  wisdom 
or  goodness.  He  has  too  much  cunning  for  that,  and,  I 
suspect,  no  very  nice  or  high  sense  of  moral  duty.  A  man 
of  science,  an  infidel  in  religion,  he  is  in  everything  else 
credulous  to  a  fault.  He  has  much  fine  sense,  yet  little  of  the 
plain  common  sense,  so  necessary  for  the  practical  statesman. 
Yet  he  has  been,  as  a  politician,  eminently  successful.  How 
is  this  ?  More,  it  seems  to  me,  by  the  popularity  of  his 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  343 

doctrines,  than  by  his  strength  of  personal  character,  or  by 
the  practical  wisdom  of  his  public  measures.  These  doctrines 
are,  some  of  them,  sound,  more  of  them  specious,  and  all  of 
them  addressed  to  the  self-esteem  and  pride  of  the  masses. 
He  is,  in  theory,  at  least,  eminently  democratic,  and  such 
our  people  are  fast  becoming.  Federalism  has  passed  away. 
Republicanism  is  now  the  favorite  designation ;  but  Democ 
racy  is  the  true  name  for  the  direct,  unbalanced,  and  unlimited 
rule  of  the  many.  This  is  not  the  government  contemplated, 
either  by  the  constitutions  of  the  states  or  by  that  of  the 
United  States.  But  this  is  what  we  are  coming  to ;  and  it  is 
owing  more  to  Mr.  Jefferson  than  to  any  other  man.  How 
far  this  unmitigated  power  of  the  major  vote  will  prove  a 
blessing  remains  to  be  seen.  In  the  meantime,  this  possession 
of  all  power  by  the  people  is  true  only  in  appearance.  The 
real  power  here,  as  every  where  else,  is  in  the  hands  of  a  few. 
Jefferson  wishes  Madison  to  be  his  successor.  Randolph  is 
against  Madison,  and  in  favor  of  Monroe." 

March  28th : 

"  This  day  a  bill  passed  the  Senate  in  favor  of  the  Yazoo 
speculators.  I  was  the  only  Senator  from  New  England  who 
voted  against  it.  But,  though  deserted  by  every  man  from 
New  England  and  every  Federalist  in  the  Senate,  I  never 
gave  a  vote  with  a  more  thorough  conviction  of  its  propriety 
than  that  against  this  bill." 

April  8th : 

"  With    John    Quincy   Adams    I    am  intimate.     He  is  a 


344  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

man  of  much  information,  a  correct  and  animated,  speaker, — 
of  strong  passions,  and  of  course,  subject  to  strong  prejudices, 
but  a  man  of  strict,  undeviating  integrity.  He  is  not  the 
slave  of  party,  nor  influenced  by  names ;  but  free,  inde 
pendent,  and  occasionally  eccentric." 

April  13th: 

"  The  ratification  of  the  treaty  with  Tripoli  depended  upon 
my  exertions,  and  without  them  would  have  failed.  By 
those  exertions  more  than  one  vote  was  obtained  for  the 
treaty,  which,  after  all,  was  barely  carried.  The  Federalists, 
except  Mr.  Adams  and  myself,  opposed  it.  Under  the 
influence  of  Eaton's  statements,  I,  at  one  time,  thought  the 
treaty  a  bad  one,  but  subsequent  inquiry  convinced  me  that 
it  ought  to  be  ratified." 

Against  the  leading  measures  of  the  session,  the 
two  millions  of  secret  service  money,  and  the  partial 
non-intercourse  with  England,  he  had  indeed,  voted, 
but  in  no  spirit  of  indiscriminate  or  factious  oppo 
sition.  There  were  only  seven  Federalists  in  the  Sen 
ate,  and  of  these  neither  Adams  nor  Plumer  could  be 
considered  as  a  reliable  party  man.  Yet  even  this  small 
number  gave  some  trouble  to  the  President.  "Seven 
Federalists,"  he  says,  "voting  always  in  phalanx, 
and  joined  by  some  discontented  Republicans,  some 
oblique  ones,  some  capricious,  have  so  often  made  a 
majority  as  to  produce  very  serious  embarrassments." 
In  the  House  the  opposition  was  not  relatively 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  345 

i 

stronger,  though  aided  by  the  accession  of  Randolph. 
He  had,  indeed,  more  talent  as  a  debater,  than  any 
other  member;  but  he  ultimately  carried  with  him 
not  more  than  six  or  seven  Republican  votes, — so 
entire  was  the  control  which  Mr.  Jefferson  retained 
to  the  last  over  the  movements  of  the  party.  Ran 
dolph  was  denounced  as  a  Federalist;  and  the 
powerful  administration  leader  became  thenceforth 
the  brilliant  and  sarcastic,  but  powerless  opposition 
orator,  fighting,  however,  always  on  his  own  ground, 
with  very  little  concert  with  others.  Four  years  on 
the  administration  side  were  preceded  and  followed 
by  a  life  of  opposition.  He  had,  as  I  heard  him  say, 
many  years  after,  as  great  an  alacrity  in  getting  into 
an  opposition  as  Falstaff  had  in  sinking.  This  was, 
indeed,  his  true  vocation,  that  of  a  fault-finder ;  and 
there  was  seldom  a  time  in  which  his  peculiar  talent 
in  that  respect  was  not  in  full  requisition.  Like 
Swift,  he  had 

"  too  much  satire  in  his  vein, 
And  seemed  determined  not  to  starve  it, 
Because  no  age  could  more  deserve  it." 

The  session  closed  on  the  21st  of  April,  and  Mr. 
Plumer  reached  home  on  the  30th.  May  15th,  he 
writes : 

"  Visited  this  week,  my  friends  and  acquaintances  at  Ports 
mouth,  by  whom  I  was  received  with  much  kindness  and 


346  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

\ 

attention.  Called,  .among  others,  upon  Governor  Langdon, 
who  treated  me  with  much  politeness.  He  is  re-elected 
without  any  real  rival,  and  a  large  majority  of  the  legisla 
ture  is  of  his  party.  All  is  now  calm  and  quiet  in  the  state. 
The  Federalists  are  silent  and  submissive.  The  Democrats 
are  obliged  to  own  that  the  change  of  men  has  produced 
little  change  in  public  measures.  A  few  men  have  got  offices 
under  Langdon,  who  would  not  have  obtained  them  under 
Gilman ;  and  that  is  all, — much  indeed  to  some  of  them,  even 
a  justice's  commission,  but  little  to  any  body  else.  I  was 
never  much  of  a  party  man,  and  am  becoming  less  of  one 
every  day." 

The  Republicans  were  now  in  full  possession  of 
the  state  government;  and  in  June  they  elected 
Nahum  Parker  to  the  United  States  Senate,  for  the 
next  Congress.  Mr.  Plumer  was  not  a  candidate  for 
re-election.  "I  am,"  he  said, in  noticing  this  event,  "too 
much  of  a  Federalist  to  have  Republican  votes,  and 
too  much  of  a  Republican  deeply  to  interest  Feder 
alists  in  my  favor."  "  At  the  election  of  members  of 
the  tenth  Congress,  August  25th,  I  attended/'  he 
says,  "the  meeting,  and  voted  for  a  ticket  of  my  own, 
selecting  two  Democrats  and  three  Federalists — hon 
est  men  and  true,  moderate,  but  firm  in  their  opinions 
— men  that  I  should  not  be  ashamed  to  meet  in  the 
councils  of  the  nation."  This  vote  for  two  Democrats 
and  three  Federalists,  though  determined  chiefly  by 
the  merits  of  the  individuals  selected,  was  a  not  inapt 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  34T 

representation  of  his  feelings  at  this  time.  He  had! 
ceased  to  feel  any  strong  party  attachment,  and 
looked  to  the  merits  of  measures,  more  than  to* 
their  authors,  for  the  degree  of  favor  with  which 
he  should  regard  them. 

His  last  session  in  the  Senate  was  now  approach 
ing.  It  need  not  detain  us  long.  He  took  his  seat 
on  the  first  day  of  December,  1806 ;  and  his  term  of 
service  closed  with  the  session,  on  the  3d  of  Marchy 
1807.  The  first  measure  of  the  session  was  an  act  to* 
suspend  the  operation  of  the  non-importation  law  of 
the  last  session.  This  was  on  the  recommendation  of 
the  President,  who  announced  the  probable  conclusion 
of  a  treaty  with  England.  This  treaty  was  received 
about  the  close  of  the  session ;  but,  not  being  satisfac 
tory  to  the  President,  it  was  rejected  by  him,  without 
being  communicated  to  the  Senate.  On  this  subject 
I  find  the  following  entry  in  my  father's  Register., 
March  4th,  1807: 

"  I  called  upon  the  President  this  morning.  He  told  me 
he  had  not  received  the  treaty  with  Great  Britain  ;  but  that  Mr. 
Erskine,  the  British  minister,  had  received  a  copy  of  it,  and 
had  politely  sent  it  to  him.  The  President  said  he  disap 
proved  of  it,  for  it  contained  no  stipulation  for  the  protection 
of  American  seamen  ;  and  that,  had  he  received  the  treaty  ten 
days  ago,  he  should  not  have  laid  it  before  the  Senate." 

The  movements  of  Aaron  Burr  formed,  during  this 


•MS  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

•session,  the  most  prominent  object  of  curiosity  and 
attention, — of  alternate  wonder,  incredulity  and 
alarm.  What  was  then  doubtful,  as  to  the  designs  of 
this  mysterious  conspirator,  the  lapse  of  nearly 
fifty  years  leaves  still  in  obscurity.  He  had  not  at 
first  despaired  of  obtaining,  from  the  hopes  or  the 
fears  of  the  administration,  some  appointment,  which 
should  imply  his  possession  of  the  public  confidence. 

"This  evening,"  says  Mr.  Plumer,  (January  15th,  1807,) 
*"  my  colleague,  Nicholas  Oilman,  told  me  that  Mr.  Jefferson, 
•a  few  days  since,  informed  him  that,  the  last  winter,  Burr 
made  several  visits  to  him,  and  requested,  as  he  was  out  of 
employment,  that  the  President  would  give  him  some  appoint 
ment,  as  that  of  minister  to  some  foreign  court ;  that  at  the 
last  visit,  Burr  pressed  the  subject ;  and  that  the  President 
then  replied^  (  You  once  had  my  confidence,  but  the  people 
and  myself  have  now  lost  the  confidence  we  once  had  in  you. 
I  cannot,  therefore,  gratify  you  with  an  appointment.'  Burr 
then  intimated  to  the  President  that  he  would  find  that  he 
had  the  power  to  do  him  much  injury." 

He  afterwards  talked  of  offering  himself  for  a  seat 
in  Congress  from  Tennessee,  where  it  was  supposed 
he  could  be  elected.  His  aims,  however,  evidently 
pointed  at  something  higher.  Desperate  in  his  for 
tunes,  his  irregular  ambition  was  now  apparently 
seeking  its  outlet  in  schemes  of  conquest  and  revo 
lution  in  the  West.  His  own  account  of  the  matter 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK,  349 

was,  that  he  was  building  boats,  and  enlisting  men, 
with  a  view  to  take  possession  of  a  tract  of  land  on 
the  Red  River  in  Louisiana,  and  to  form  a  settle 
ment  there.  By  others,  including  the  President,  it 
was  believed  that  his  object  was  a  dismemberment  of 
the  Union,  and  the  establishment  of  an  empire  in  the 
South  West;  and  that  with  this  view  he  would  first 
seize  on  New  Orleans,  and  thence  push  his  fortunes 
against  the  Spaniards  in  Mexico.  "He  meant,"  said! 
Jefferson,  July  14,  1807,  "to  separate  the  Western 
States  from  us,  to  add  Mexico  to  them,  place  himself 
at  their  head,  and  establish  what  he  would  call  an 
energetic  government."  Of  this  long-dreaded  expe 
dition  not  much  that  was  tangible  ever  appeared, 
beyond  a  few  men  floating  in  flat  boats  down  the  river 
towards  New  Orleans.  These  boats  were  seized  by 
order  of  the  government,  and  the  men  were  dispersed. 
Burr  was  afterwards  tried  in  Virginia,  before  Chief 
Justice  Marshall,  on  a  charge  of  treason,  and  acquitted 
for  want  of  proof  of  any  overt  act.  And  thus  ended  an 
enterprise,  which  was  thought  for  a  time  to  threaten 
the  safety  of  the  Union.  The  subject  of  this  memoir 
was  slow  to  believe  in  the  many  rumors  which  were 
circulated  on  the  subject. 

"  We  have  many  reports,"  he  said,  December  9th,  1806, 
( '  but  very  little  correct  information,  respecting  Burr's  move 
ments.  I  do  not  know  enough,  of  his  late  conduct  to  form  an 


350  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

opinion  as  to  what  are  his  objects  in  the  Western  States. 
But  I  am  too  well  acquainted  with  the  man  to  believe  him 
guilty  of  half  the  absurdities  ascribed  to  him.  He  is  capable 
of  much  wickedness,  but  not  of  such  folly  as  they  impute 
to  ihim." 

Yet  such  is  the  contagion  of  example  that,  under 
the  excitement  of  these  rumors,  he  voted,  (January 
23d.)  for  the  bill  to  suspend  for  three  months  the 
privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  which  passed 
the  Senate  almost  unanimously,  but  was  rejected 
with  almost  equal  unanimity  by  the  House.  Sub 
sequent  events  showed  that  there  was  no  occasion 
for  this  suspension,  and  he  expressed,  before  the 
close  of  the  session,  his  surprise  and  regret  at 
having  voted  for  it. 

The  most  permanently  important  measure  of  the 
session  was  the  act  prohibiting  the  importation  of 
slaves  into  the  United  States,  after  the  first  of  Janu 
ary,  1808.  Two  other  measures,  of  this  session,  then 
little  regarded,  have  since  led  to  important  results, — 
the  one  an  act  to  provide  for  surveying  the  coasts  of 
the  United  States,  a  survey  which,  involving  great 
expense,  and  requiring  much  time,  is  not  yet  com 
pleted  ;  the  other,  a  call  of  the  Senate  on  the  Secre 
tary  of  the  Treasury  to  report  at  the  next  session  a 
system  of  internal  improvements  for  the  United 
States.  This  latter  was  the  first  step  in  a  series  of 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  351 

i. 

measures,  which  have  since  entered  largely  into  the 
civil  history  of  the  country,  and  the  course  of  its 
politics.  Mr.  Plumer  voted  for  all  these  acts,  fore 
seeing  as  little  as  others  the  final  results  to  which 
the  two  latter  measures  would  lead,  but  deeming 
them  clearly  within  the  constitutional  powers  of  the 
government,  and  conducive  to  the  public  good. 

Henry  Clay  came,  for  the  first  time,  this  session, 
into  Congress.  I  find  in  Mr.  Plumer's  papers  several 
notices  of  him. 

December  29th,  1806 : 

"  This  day,  Henry  Clay,  the  successor  of  John  Aclair,  was 
qualified,  and  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate.  He  is  a  young 
lawyer.  His  stature  is  tall  and  slender.  I  had  much  conver 
sation  with  him  ;  and  it  afforded  me  much  pleasure.  He  is 
intelligent,  and  appears  frank  and  candid.  His  address  is 
good  and  his  manners  easy." 

January  2d,  1807 : 

"  Mr.  Clay  in  the  Senate.  He  appears  to  be  an  easy,  elo 
quent  and  graceful  speaker." 

January  12th: 

"  Mr.  Clay  is  a  young  lawyer,  of  considerable  eminence. 
He  came  here  as  Senator,  for  this  session  only.  His 


352  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

clients,  who  have  suits  depending  in  the  Supreme  Court, 
gave  him  a  purse  of  three  thousand  dollars  to  attend  to 
their  suits  here.  He  would  not  be  a  candidate  for  the  next 
Congress,  as  it  would  materially  injure  his  business.  But  it 
was  a  convenient  and  money-making  business  for  him  to 
attend  this  session.  This  day  Henry  Clay,  and  Matthew 
Clay,  his  uncle,  joined  the  party  at  our  lodgings.  They  are 
Republicans,  and  I  am  glad  they  have  come.  I  dislike  this 
setting  up  of  partition  walls  between  Members  of  Congress, 
because  some  are  Federalists  and  others  Republicans.  The 
more  we  associate  together,  the  more  favorably  shall  we  think 
of  each  other." 

It  had  been  early  an  object  with  Mr.  Plumer,  to 
bring  about  this  social  union  at  the  same  boarding- 
house  between  members  of  the  different  parties ;  and 
he  succeeded,  this  session,  in  forming  a  mess  of  this 
character,  of  liberal  minded  men  from  both  parties, 
much  to  his  satisfaction.  Clay  came  readily  into  it, 

January  23d : 

"  Henry  Clay  told  me  he  thought  there  was  no  occasion 
for  suspending  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus ;  but  the  delicate 
situation  in  which  he  stood,  as  late  counsel  for  Burr,  would 
not  only  prevent  him  from  opposing  it,  but  oblige  him  to 
vote  for  it,  which  he  did." 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEE.  353 

January  29th: 


"  On  the  second  reading  of  the  bill  to  erect  a  bridge 
over  the  Potomac,  Henry  Clay  made  an  eloquent  and  forci 
ble  speech  against  the  postponement.  He  animadverted 
with  great  severity  on  Tracy's  observations.  As  a  speaker, 
Clay  is  animated,  his  language  bold  and  flowery.  He  is 
prompt  and  ready  at  reply,  but  he  does  not  reason  with  the 
force  and  precision  of  Bayard." 

February  13th : 

"  Henry  Clay  is  a  man  of  pleasure ;  fond  of  amusements. 
He  is  a  great  favorite  with  the  ladies ;  is  in  all  parties  of 
pleasure ;  out  almost  every  evening  ;  reads  but  little  ;  indeed 
he  said  he  meant  this  session  should  be  a  tour  of  pleasure. 
He  is  a  man  of  talents ;  is  eloquent,  but  not  nice  or  accu 
rate  in  his  distinctions.  He  declaims  more  than  he  reasons. 
He  is  a  gentlemanly  and  pleasant  companion ;  a  man  of  honor 
and  integrity." 

The  following  extract  shows  a  state  of  things  differ 
ent  from  any  which  has  since  existed  among  the  high 
officers  of  the  government  at  Washington : 

March  1st: 

"  The  Heads  of  Departments  visit  few  members  of  either 
House.  Mr.  Madison,  for  two  or  three  years  past,  has 

23 


354  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

entirely  omitted  even  the  ceremony  of  leaving  cards  at 
their  lodgings.  He  invites  very  few  to  dine  with  him. 
Mr.  Gallatin  leaves  no  cards,  makes  no  visits,  scarcely  ever 
invites  a  member  to  dine,  or  has  even  a  tea  party.  General 
Dearborn  and  Robert  Smith,  Secretaries  of  War  and  the 
Navy,  leave  cards  with  all  the  members,  but  invite  few  to 
tea,  and  scarcely  any  to  dine.  Mr.  Clinton,  the  Vice-Presi 
dent,  comes  to  the  city  in  his  own  carriage,  accompanied  by 
one  of  his  daughters  and  a  servant  ;  but  lives  out  at  board, 
like  a  common  member ;  keeps  no  table,  nor  invites  any  one 
to  dine.  These  gentlemen  do  not  live  in  a  style  suited  to  the 
dignity  of  their  offices." 

After  the  close  of  his  senatorial  service,  though  he 
lived  more  than  forty  years,  Mr.  Plumer  never  re 
visited  the  seat  of  government.  He,  however,  always 
looked  back  with  satisfaction  and  pleasure  to  the  time 
which  he  spent  there.  With  his  habits  of  vigilant 
observation,  and  his  keen  insight  of  character,  he  had 
acquired  a  fund  of  curious  anecdotes,  and  rich  stores 
of  information,  respecting  the  distinguished  men  of 
the  times,  the  prominent  lawyers  and  politicians  of 
the  country,  which  added,  in  after  years,  fresh  charms 
to  his  conversation,  abounding,  as  it  often  did,  with 
curious  facts  and  instructive  remarks  on  life  and  man 
ners,  derived  from  this  source.  Though  he  found 
there  no  lawyers  whom  he  deemed  superior  to  his 
old  friends  and  opponents,  Parsons,  Dexter  and  Ma 
son,  he  formed  the  acquaintance  of  jurists,  such  as 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  355 

Marshall,  Patterson  and  Chase,  on  the  bench,  and 
Martin,  Harper,  Lewis  and  Hopkinson,  at  the  bar, 
with  others,  then  noted,  but  now  little  known,  who 
represented  not  unworthily  the  legal  profession  in  the 
courts  of  the  Union.  If  lawyers  are  unknown,  or 
soon  forgotten,  the  race  of  politicians  is  perhaps  not 
much  longer  lived.  Yet  he  associated  with  many 
there  who  are  not  yet  quite  forgotten,  and  with  some 
whose  memory  will  not  wholly  perish.  He  witnessed, 
at  his  first  session,  the  departing  glories  of  Ross  and 
Morris,  and,  at  a  later  period,  the  rising  splendors 
of  Clinton,  Clay  and  Adams.  Randolph  was  at  the 
height  of  his  power  and  popularity,  and  in  the  prime 
vigor  of  his  peculiar  and  eccentric  genius.  Tracy, 
Griswold,  Bayard,  Taylor,  Giles  and  Smith  were  able 
public  men,  though  not  brilliant  debaters.  In  the 
Cabinet,  Madison  was  learned  in  all  questions  of  the 
law  of  nations  ;  modest  and  unassuming,  with  a  fem 
inine  grace  of  manner ;  yet  firm  and,  at  times,  almost 
stubborn  in  his  opinions ;  strong  in  the  powers  of  a 
clear,  discriminating  mind,  improved  by  study,  and 
enlightened  by  experience  ;  yet  less  expert  in  the 
arts  of  policy  than  his  able  and  adroit  colleague  of 
the  Treasury  Department.  Sagacious  in  design,  and 
persuasive  in  manner  and  address,  Mr.  Gallatin  had 
few  equals  in  his  knowledge  of  human  nature,  or 
the  skill  with  which  he  combined  the  means  neces 
sary  for  the  accomplishment  of  his  designs.  In  Mr. 


356  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

Plumer's  opinion,  the  President  owed  much  of 
the  success  of  his  administration  to  the  counsels 
of  these  two  able  ministers.  Without  their  restrain 
ing  influence,  his  brilliant,  but  less  balanced  mind 
might  have  betrayed  itself  more  frequently  in  such 
vagaries  as  his  scheme  of  gun-boats  and  dry-docks, 
or  his  vision  cf  salt  mountains,  and  in  the  rancor  of 
his  personal  and  political  animosities. 


CHAPTER     IX. 

NEW   POLITICAL   RELATIONS. 

RETIRING  from  the  public  service  at  the  age  of  forty- 
eight,  Mr.  Plumer  did  not  feel  that  the  labors  of  his 
life  were  yet  ended.  The  vigor  of  his  mind  was 
unimpaired,  and  its  activity  had  never  been  greater. 
"Labor,"  he  said,  "is  not  irksome  to  me,  and  I  well 
know  that  the  busiest  life  is  also  the  most  happy." 
He  did  not,  however,  wish  to  return  to  his  profession 
as  a  lawyer.  He  went,  indeed,  occasionally  into  court, 
at  the  request  of  an  old  client ;  but  he  declined  busi 
ness  from  other  persons.  His  health,  though  better 
than  it  had  been  five  years  before,  was  not,  in  his 
opinion,  equal  to  the  labors  and  the  excitements  of  a 
lawyer  in  full  practice.  He  had,  while  at  Washing 
ton,  collected  a  set,  nearly  complete,  of  the  public 
documents  of  the  government;  and  this  collection, 
which  ultimately  extended  to  four  or  five  hundred 
volumes,  was,  probably,  for  the  period  which  it 
embraced,  the  most  nearly  complete  in  the  United 
States.  So  assiduous  were  his  labors  in  this  respect, 
spending  days  and  nights  in  selecting  and  sorting  his 
materials,  from  cartloads  of  useless  lumber,  piled  in 


358  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

obscure  vaults,  and  rotting  in  damp  and  unventilated 
chambers,  that  scarcely  a  paper  published  by  Con 
gress  had  escaped  his  research.  This  collection  of  State 
papers  suggested  to  him  the  idea  of  writing  a  history 
of  the  government,  from  the  Declaration  of  Indepen 
dence  to  the  close  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  administration. 
He  afterwards  enlarged  the  plan,  so  as  to  embrace  a 
general  history  of  the  country  from  its  first  discovery 
to  his  own  time ;  a  work,  which  he  justly  regarded  as 
affording  ample  occupation  for  the  longest  life  which 
he  could  hope  to  enjoy.  He  had,  however,  from  the 
first,  many  misgivings  as  to  his  competency  for  the 
task.  "  I  am,"  he  said,  "  no  scholar.  Hardly  master 
of  my  own  language,  I  can  read  no  other.  It  requires 
much  time  for  me  to  express  my  ideas  on  paper,  so 
as  to  satisfy  myself,  though  I  find  that  I  now  compose 
with  greater  facility  than  formerly."  He  began  with 
drawing  out  a  sketch,  or  plan  of  what  his  work  should 
contain.  This  extended  to  seventy-two  pages,  and 
embraced  such  a  variety  of  topics  as  showed  that 
little  or  nothing,  deserving  notice,  had  escaped  his 
attention.  It  was  evident,  however,  that  he  looked 
to  law,  politics,  the  civil  institutions  of  the  country, 
and  the  lives  and  characters  of  its  statesmen  and  law 
givers,  more  than  to  the  movements  of  armies  and 
the  incidents  of  war. 

He  had  gone  so  far,  before  leaving  Washington,  as 
to  converse  on  the  subject  with  the  President,  arid 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  359 

other  officers  of  the  government,  from  whom  he 
received  promises  of  assistance,  and  permission  to 
examine  the  public  archives.  He  now  determined 
to  devote  himself  to  the  work,  and  to  allow  no  other 
pursuit  to  interfere  permanently  with  its  prosecution. 
The  spirit  in  which  he  entered  on  this  important 
undertaking  was  well  expressed  in  a  letter  (May  1st, 
1807,)  to  Mr.  Jefferson.  "It  is  my  first  determina 
tion,  like  a  faithful  witness  in  court,  to  tell  the  truth,  the 
ivhote  truth  and  nothing  but  the  truth,  regardless  of  the 
applause  or  the  censure  of  existing  parties.  This 
year  I  shall  devote  to  the  settling  of  my  pecuniary 
affairs,  to  arranging  my  documents  and  manuscripts, 
and  making  indexes  and  references  to  them.  The 
next  year  I  hope  to  commence  my  work,  and  to 
spend  the  winter  at  Washington,  in  procuring  further 
information  from  the  public  offices." 

To  John  Q.  Adams,  (July  11,1809,)  he  writes: 
"  My  leisure  hours  are  now  devoted  to  my  history  of 
the  United  States.  I  have  made  but  little  progress 
in  the  composition,  the  rough  sketch  of  my  introduc 
tion  being  not  yet  finished.  To  this  work  I  intend 
sedulously  to  devote  the  remainder  of  my  days." 

To  tell  the  truth  with  the  conscientious  fidelity  of 
a  witness  under  oath,  it  was,  above  all  things,  neces 
sary  that  he  should  first  know  the  truth.  With  this 
view  he  entered  on  a  comprehensive  course  of  careful 
and  critical  reading  in  American  history ;  resorting 


360  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

to  the  original  authorities,  in  all  cases  where  they 
were  within  his  reach;  taking  nothing  for  granted, 
or  at  second  hand,  comparing  adverse  statements, 
sifting  authorities,  and  thus  deducing  historic  truth  as 
the  slow  result  of  patient  investigation.  It  was  not 
till  he  had  gone,  in  this  way,  through  all  the  early 
writers,  and  compared  them  with  the  original  docu 
ments,  so  far  as  these  could  be  obtained,  that  he 
commenced  the  labor  of  composition.  In  several 
preliminary  chapters,  he  unfolded,  first,  the  state  of 
society  in  Europe,  at  the  period  of  the  discovery  of 
America;  and  then  traced  the  progress  of  naviga 
tion  and  settlement  along  the  coast,  from  Canada  to 
Florida,  down  to  the  first  permanent  lodgement  effect 
ed  by  the  English  in  Virginia.  He  then  entered  on 
the  early  history  of  that  colony ;  but  had  made  little 
progress  in  it,  when  his  labors  as  an  historian  came 
finally  to  a  close.  He  had  written  what  would  make 
about  half  a  volume  of  the  ordinary  octavo  size. 
But,  while  intent  upon  this  history  of  the  past,  he  did 
not  altogether  lost  sight  of  the  present.  His  interest  in 
passing  events  grew  daily  stronger,  with  the  increasing 
aggressions  of  France  and  England  on  the  commerce 
and  maritime  rights  of  the  United  States.  To  explain 
his  return  to  public  life,  and  to  trace  the  new  connec 
tions  into  which  he  now  entered,  we  must  go  back  to 
the  close  of  his  senatorial  term,  and  thence  follpw 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  361 

down  the  course  of  events  to  the  period  of  his  elec 
tion  as  Governor  of  New  Hampshire. 

The  administration  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  so  prosper 
ous  at  its  commencement,  was  clouded  and  overcast 
towards  its  close,  by  the  injustice  of  foreign  powers  to 
the  United  States.  This  rendered  necessary,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  government,  a  system  of  non-inter 
course  and  embargo  laws,  and  led  finally  to  a  war 
with  England.  The  British  order  of  blockade  of  May 
16th,  1806,  was  the  cause  alleged  by  Napoleon  for 
issuing  his  Berlin  Decree  of  November  21st,  1806. 
This  was  followed  by  the  British  Orders  in  Council  of 
January  7th,  and  November  llth,  1807.  The  Milan 
Decree  of  Napoleon  was  dated  December  17th,  1807. 
The  effect  of  these  British  orders  and  French  decrees 
was  well-nigh  to  destroy  all  neutral  commerce,  of 
which  the  largest  portion  was,  at  this  time,  in  the 
hands  of  American  merchants.  More  than  a  hundred 
millions  of  American  property  were  swept  from  the 
ocean,  or  confiscated  in  port.  With  England  there 
was  the  additional  question  of  impressment  of  seamen 
from  American  vessels,  complicated  by  the  attack  on 
the  Chesapeake,  which  took  place  June  22d,  1807. 
The  question  presented  by  this  state  of  things  to 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  was,  whether  they 
should  submit  in  silence  to  these  unjust  aggressions ; 
and,  if  not,  in  what  manner  they  should  be  met,  and 
repelled.  Mr.  Plumer's  views  and  feelings  on  these 


362  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

subjects  will  be  seen  in  the  following  extracts  from 
his  letters  and  other  papers  written  at  the  time. 

In  a  letter  to  Thomas  Cogswell,  August  3d,  1807, 
he  says : 

"The  conduct  of  Humphries,  the  Captain  of  the  Leopard, 
in  attacking  the  Chesapeake,  and  taking  from  her,  by  force,  four 
of  our  seamen,  was  a  direct  assault  upon  our  sovereignty.  Even 
if  they  were  British  subjects,  instead  of  American  citizens,  that 
would  not  justify  an  attack  upon  the  national  flag.  If  the 
British  government  justifies  the  conduct  of  Humphries,  we 
ought,  and,  I  trust,  shall,  declare  war  against  her.  I  love 
peace  ;  I  would  suffer  much  to  preserve  it ;  but  war,  with  all 
its  horrors,  is  preferable  to  degradation.  One  insult,  meanly 
submitted  to,  will  necessarily  produce  another.  The  conduct 
of  Great  Britain  towards  the  United  States,  for  some  years 
past,  has  been  hostile.  It  is  sound  policy  in  our  government 
to  demand  an  explicit  stipulation  that  our  flag,  mercantile,  as 
well  as  national,  shall  protect  those  who  sail  under  it.  If  this 
is  refused,  and  war  should  grow  out  of  our  present  embarrass 
ments,  I  trust  we  shall  maintain  it  with  a  spirit  worthy  of 
freemen." 

To  Martin  Chittenden,  a  member  of  Congress  from 
Vermont,  and  afterwards  Governor  of  that  state,  he 
wrote,  December  5th,  1807: 

"  If  the  honor  and  dignity  of  our  nation  can  be  preserved, 
I  hope  we  shall  avoid  war.  I  would  sooner  abandon  commerce, 
for  a  time,  than  involve  our  country  in  the  calamities  insepa 
rable  from  war.  Our  merchants,  in  that  case,  would  clamor ; 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  363 

but  I  would  leave  them  to  protect  their  property  by  voluntary 
embargoes.  If  they  send  their  ships  to  sea,  let  them  do  if  at 
their  own  risk,  and  not  look  to  the  government  to  be  their 
insurers.  Yet,  as  much  as  I  deprecate  war,  I  should  prefer 
it  to  national  degradation." 

This  idea  of  letting  commerce  take  care  of  itself 
was  at  the  time  extensively  entertained.  The  mer 
chants  preferred  it  to  an  embargo.  Trade  embar 
rassed,  but  not  altogether  destroyed  by  orders  and 
decrees  was,  at  this  time,  a  game  of  hazard,  in  which, 
if  the  losses  were  frequent,  the  gains  were  enormous. 
War  was,  indeed,  the  obvious,  almost  inevitable 
result  of  the  state  of  things  which  then  existed ; 
but  for  this  measure  the  country  was  not  prepared, 
either  morally,  by  a  belief  in  its  necessity,  or  physi 
cally,  by  the  armaments  necessary  to  carry  it  on  with 
success.  The  measure  adopted  was,  therefore,  that  of 
an  embargo.  This  act,  December  22d,  1807,  was 
defended  by  its  friends  on  various  grounds ;  first,  and 
most  successfully,  as  a  precautionary  measure,  to  se 
cure  our  shipping  and  produce  from  the  grasp  of  the 
belligerents,  till  we  could  prepare  for  Avar ;  secondly, 
as  the  best  means  of  compelling  France  and  England 
to  respect  our  rights ;  and  thirdly,  as  a  withdrawal 
from  the  scenes  of  European  contest,  till  the  nations 
of  Europe  should  return  once  more  to  their  wonted 
relations  of  peace  and  commerce.  Those  who  sup 
ported  it  upon  this  latter  ground,  held  that  the  war 


364  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

in  Europe  would  not  be  of  long  continuance ;  and 
that  while  it  lasted  it  was  our  true  policy,  though  at 
the  loss  of  some  property,  and  perhaps  of  some  repu 
tation  for  the  time,  to  keep  "  out  of  the  wind  of  such 
commotion," — safe  at  least,  if  inglorious,  within  our 
own  borders.  At  an  earlier  period,  Fisher  Ames  had 
said,  (January  27,  1794,)  "Though  America  is  rising 
with  a  giant's  strength,  its  bones  are  yet  but  carti 
lages.  By  delaying  the  beginning  of  a  conflict,  we 
insure  the  victory."  The  great  majority,  however,  of 
those  who  supported  for  years  the  policy  of  the 
embargo  and  non-intercourse  laws  did  it  upon  the 
ground  that  they  wmild  compel  both  France  and 
England  ultimately  to  do  us  justice;  our  commerce 
being  desirable  to  the  former,  and  essential  to  the 
latter.  Mr.  Plumer's  opinions  on  this  subject  were 
expressed  in  a  letter,  (dated  January  26th,  1808,) 
to  Samuel  M.  Mitchell,  a  member  of  Congress  from 
New  York. 

"  Our  merchants  complain  of  the  embargo  as  a  serious 
evil ;  it  oppresses  our  seamen,  many  of  whom  are  in  want  of 
bread,  and  our  farmers  feel  its  pressure  in  the  reduced  price 
of  the  produce  of  their  lands.  When  Congress  imposed  it, 
they  possessed,  I  presume,  information,  which  it  was  then 
improper  to  disclose,  but  which,  if  known,  wrould  have  pre 
vented  prudent  men  from  hazarding  their  ships  on  the  ocean. 
When,  from  any  source,  this  danger  shall  be  known  to  our 
merchants,  will  the  embargo  be  continued  ?  Or  is  it  designed 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  365 

to  operate  against  other  nations  ?  If  the  latter  is  the  object, 
I  fear,  while  we  are  chastising  others  with  ivhips,  we  shall 
be  scourging  ourselves  with  scorpions" 


'OO 


scorpions. 


In  August,  1808,  Mr.  Plumer  voted  for  the  Repub 
lican  ticket  for  members  of  Congress,  and  in  Novem 
ber,  for  the  Madison  electors  for  President.  "Though 
Madison  was  not,"  he  says,  "  the  man  I  should  have 
selected  for  President,  had  I  possessed  the  sole  power, 
I  thought  him  the  best  man  that  could  be  chosen, 
and  therefore  used  my  influence,  and  gave  my  vote 
for  him."  In  the  mean  time,  the  opposition  to  the 
restrictive  policy  of  the  government  had  become  so 
strong,  particularly  in  New  England,  that  Congress, 
at  its  next  session,  repealed  the  embargo,  and  adopted 
in  its  place  a  system  of  non-intercourse  with  France 
and  England.  "  The  alternative,"  said  Mr.  Jefferson, 
"  was  repeal  or  civil  war."  "  Congress,"  said  Mr. 
Plumer,  "apprehended,  not  without  reason,  that,  if 
they  did  not  repeal  the  embargo  laws,  some,  if  not  all 
of  the  New  England  States,  would  recede  from  the 
Union." 

Though,  as  we  have  seen,  Mr.  Plumer  did  not 
much  like  the  embargo  and  non-intercourse,  or,  as  it 
was  then  called,  the  restrictive  system,  he  thought 
himself  bound  to  support  his  own  government 
against  the  hostile  aggressions  of  foreign  powers ; 
and  would,  therefore,  no  longer  go  with  his  old  asso- 


36G  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK. 

elates  of  the  Federal  party,  in  their  indiscriminate 
opposition  to  all  the  measures  of  the  administration. 
Unsuccessful  in  their  party  movements,  and  exasper 
ated  by  their  long  exclusion  from  office,  they  had 
acquired,  with  the  feelings  of  a  minority,  the  usual 
faults 'of  an  opposition.  The  Republicans,  on  the 
contrary,  had  silently  withdrawn  from  many  of  the 
untenable  positions  which  they  had  originally  occu 
pied  ;  and,  under  the  burdens  of  government,  with 
the  responsibilities  of  office  upon  them,  were  saying 
and  doing  many  things  which  they  had  formerly  con 
demned,  when  said  or  done  by  the  Federal  party  then 
in  power.  Amidst  these  changes  of  conduct  and 
opinion  in  the  two  great  political  parties,  Mr.  Plumer 
found  himself  once  more,  what  he  had  originally 
been,  a  supporter  of  the  government;  and,  above  all, 
a  ready  opponent  of  every  foreign  aggression  on  the 
rights  of  his  country.  It  was  this  duty  of  supporting 
the  government  in  its  action  against  unjust  pressure 
from  abroad,  which  formed  the  chief  tie  between  him 
and  the  party  with  which  he  now  acted.  Another 
motive,  however,  perhaps  equally  strong  with  him, 
was  his  belief  that  certain  leading  Federalists  of  New 
England  still  cherished  their  old  design  of  a  separa 
tion  of  the  states,  lie  saw  much  in  the  spirit  of  the 
times  and  the  course  of  events,  calculated  to  give 
encouragement,  if  not  success,  to  their  exertions  in  a 
cause,  which  he  had  himself  once  favored,  but  the 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  367 

success  of  which  lie  now  regarded  as  the  greatest 
misfortune  which  could  befall  the  country.  That 
there  was  danger  of  this  he  firmly  believed.  Nothing, 
indeed,  seemed  so  likely  to  drive  the  people  of  the 
north  to  the  despair  which  precedes  revolt,  as  the 
annihilation  of  their  commerce,  produced  by  the 
embargo,  non-intercourse  and  other  kindred  measures. 
The  embargo  had  been  pronounced  by  the  highest 
Federalist  authorities,  legal,  executive  and  legislative, 
to  be  unconstitutional  and  void ;  and  resistance  to  it 
was  alternately  threatened  and  predicted.  Threats 
of  disunion  and  civil  war  were  loudly  uttered,  in 
many  quarters,  by  men  of  high  standing  and  wide 
influence  in  the  community ;  and  they  were  received 
with  apparent  favor  by  many,  who,  in  ordinary  times, 
would  have  shrunk  from  them  with  abhorrence.  Mr. 
Plumer  saw,  therefore,  in  the  success  of  Federalism,  as 
then  organized  and  directed,  great  danger  to  the 
union  of  the  states ;  and  he  believed  that  this  danger 
could  be  averted  only  by  the  triumph  of  the  Repub 
lican,  or,  as  he  now  regarded  it,  the  national  party. 
In  the  party  sense  of  the  word,  he  had  ceased  to  be  a 
Federalist ;  and,  as  no  man  can  act  with  effect  in 
public  affairs,  except  in  connection  with  others,  he 
soon  found  himself  acting  with  the  Republicans, 
against  his  old  associates  of  the  Federal  party.  In 
stead,  however,  of  an  increased  faith  in  the  popular 


368  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

wisdom  or  virtue,  his  old  doubts  seem,  at  this  time, 
to  have  come  over  him  with  fresh  force. 

"  It  is  a  question,"  he  writes,  "  which  I  often  contemplate 
with  gloomy  apprehensions,  whether  a  government,  founded 
upon  town  meetings,  can  be  permanent.  I  hope  a  Republic 
will  always  exist  in  this  country  ;  but  I  fear  that  our  govern 
ment,  like  others  which  have  preceded  it,  will  terminate,  if 
not  in  monarchy,  at  least  in  one  of  more  energy,  and  less 
freedom,  than  the  present.  Much  I  fear  that  a  system  of 
pure  republicanism  is  too  pure,  too  liberal,  and  too  good  for 
human  nature.  All  other  republics  have  ended  first  in 
anarchy,  and  then  in  despotism.  What  right  have  we  to 
expect  an  exemption  in  our  favor  ?" 

To  Nicholas  Oilman,  then  Senator  from  New 
Hampshire,  he  wrote,  January  24th,  1809  : 

"  At  no  period  of  my  life  have  I  felt  more  anxiety  for  my 
country  than  the  present.  I  apprehend  more  real  danger 
from  our  own  internal  divisions  than  from  the  belligerent 
powers  of  Europe.  In  New  England,  and  even  in  New 
York,  there  appears  a  spirit  hostile  to  the  existence  of  our 
own  government.  Committees  of  safety  and  correspondence, 
the  precursors  of  revolution,  are  appointed  in  several  towns 
in  Massachusetts.  Numbers  who,  a  few  months  since,  would 
have  revolted  with  horror  at  the  fatal  idea  of  the  dissolution 
of  the  Union,  now  converse  freely  upon  it,  as  an  event  rather 
to  be  desired  than  avoided." 


LIF.E     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  369 

This  fear  for  the  safety  of  the  Union  was  by  no 
means  peculiar  to  Mr.  Plumer.  The  opinion  of  John 
Q.  Adams  has  already  been  noticed.  Joseph  Story, 
then  a  member  of  Congress,,  and  afterwards  Judge  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  thus  writes  to  a  friend,  (January 
4th,  1809,)  "If  I  may  judge  from  the  letters  I  have 
seen  from  the  various  districts  of  Massachusetts,  it  is 
a  prevalent  opinion  there,  and  in  truth  many  friends 
from  the  New  England  States  write  us,  that  there  is 
great  danger  of  resistance,  and  great  probability  that 
the  Essex  junto  have  resolved  to  attempt  a  separa 
tion  of  the  Eastern  States  from  the  Union ;  and  that, 
if  the  embargo  continues,  their  plan  may  receive 
support  from  our  yeomanry."  "The  New  England 
States,"  said  Lieutenant  Governor  Lincoln  to  the 
Massachusetts  Legislature,  "have  been  represented 
as  ripening  for  a  separation  from  the  Union.  Such 
suggestions,  we  trust,  are  unfounded.  It  is  to  be 
lamented  that  any  color  has  ever  been  furnished  for 
such  alarms.  If  we  must  have  conflicts,  let  them 
be  with  foreign  enemies."  To  this  latter  suggestion, 
the  House  of  Representatives  replied,  "Let  Con 
gress  repeal  the  embargo,  annul  the  Convention 
with  France,  forbid  all  intercourse  with  the  French 
dominions,  arm  our  public  and  private  ships,  and 
unfurl  the  Republican  banner  against  the  Imperial 
standard."  November  2 1st,  180 8,  Mr.  Lloyd  said  in 
the  United  States  Senate,  that  if  "the  embargo  was 

24 


370  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

not  repealed,  the  spark  of  present  discontent  would, 
he  feared,  be  fanned  into  a  flame  of  rebellion." 
November  30th,  1808,  speaking  of  the  embargo,  Mr. 
Pickering  reminded  the  Senate  that  the  revolution,  of 
which  Boston  was  the  cradle,  began  in  New  England ; 
and  that  "  one  of  the  reasons  assigned  for  the  Decla 
ration  of  Independence  was  the  cutting  off  our  trade 
with  all  the  zvorld"  This  wras  during  the  embargo,  "  an 
act,"  said  Mr.  Hillhouse,  December  21,  1808,  in  the 
Senate,  "containing  unconstitutional  provisions  to 
which  the  people  are  not  bound  to  submit,  and  to  which, 
in  my  opinion,  they  will  not  submit."  "  A  storm  seems," 
he  says,  "to  be  gathering,  which  portends,  not  a 
tempest  on  the  ocean,  but  domestic  convulsions." 
The  Massachusetts  Legislature  followed  up  this  opin 
ion,  February,  1809,  declaring  the  embargo,  "unjust, 
oppressive,  and  unconstitutional,  and  not  legally  binding 
on  the  citizens  of  the  state"  They  did  not,  however, 
recommend  forcible  resistance  to  it.  In  view  of  these 
movements  in  New  England,  De  Witt  Clinton  said, 
(January  31st,  1809,)  in  the  Senate  of  New  York: 
"  The  opposition  in  the  Eastern  States  bids  defiance 
to  the  laws,  and  threatens  a  dissolution  of  the  Union. 
The  match  appears  to  be  now  lighted  to  produce  an 
explosion  which  will  overwhelm  us  with  all  the 
horrors  of  a  civil  war."  September  27th,  1808,  John 
Adams  wrote  to  Benjamin  Rush:  "The  Union  I 
fear,  is  in  some  danger.  If  we  can  preserve  it 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  371 

entire,  we  may  preserve  our  Republic ;  but  if  the 
Union  is  broken,  we  become  petty  principalities, 
little  better  than  feudatories,  one  of  France,  the 
other  of  England." 

Nor  was  it  among  heated  partizans  alone,  that 
these  views  were  entertained.  "A  dissolution  of  the 
Union,"  writes  Mr.  Erskine,  the  British  minister  at 
Washington,  to  his  government,  (February  15th, 
1809,)  "has  been  for  some  time  talked  of,  and  has, 
of  late,  as  I  have  heard,  been  seriously  contemplated 
by  many  of  the  leading  people  of  the  Eastern  divis 
ion."  It  appeared  afterwards  that  John  Henry,  a 
British  agent  from  the  Governor  of  Canada,  was,  about 
this  time,  at  Boston,  watching  the  progress  of  events, 
and  fomenting  the  popular  discontents.  As  the  result 
of  his  inquiries,  he  stated  to  his  employers,  (March 
7th,  1809,)  that,  in  case  of  a  war  with  England,  Massa 
chusetts  would  give  the  tone  to  the  neighboring 
states,  "  invite  a  Congress  to  be  composed  of  delegates 
from  the  Federalist  States,  and  erect  a  separate 
government  for  their  common  defence  and  common 
interest."  But  this,  he  says,  is  "  an  unpopular  topic, 
the  common  people  still  regarding  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  with  complacency."  Writing  from 
Boston,  he  afterwards,  (April  13th,  1809,)  speaks  of 
"  the  men  of  talents  and  property  there  who  now 
prefer  the  chance  of  maintaining  their  party  by 


372  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

open  resistance,  and  a  final  separation,  to   an    alli 
ance  with  France  and  a  war  with  England." 

This  may  be  the  most  convenient  place  for  intro 
ducing  the  following  characteristic  letter  from  John 
Quincy  Adams  to  Mr.  Plumer : 

"August  16th,  1809. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR, — Among  the  letters  which  I  received  a 
few  days  before  my  departure  from  Boston,  and  which  the 
precipitation  with  which  I  was  obliged  to  hasten  it  prevented 
me  from  answering,  I  am  almost  ashamed  to  acknowledge,  was 
your  very  kind  favor  of  July.  I  say,  ashamed  to  acknowledge, 
because  in  examining  rigorously  the  causes  which  occa 
sioned  this  omission,  I  cannot  but  say  to  myself,  and  am 
sensible  you  will  have  reason  to  think,  that,  however  short  my 
time  was,  I  ought  to  have  made  an  hour,  at  least,  for  the 
expression  of  grateful  sensibility  to  the  obliging  attentions  of 
friendship. 

"  To  repair  as  much  as  remains  within  my  power  the  fault 
from  which  I  cannot  altogether  discharge  my  own  mind,  I 
take  at  least  the  earliest  opportunity  after  my  embarkation  to 
do  what  ought  to  have  preceded  it,  and  to  assure  you  that 
while  absent  from  our  country  I  shall  feel  myself  highly  in 
debted  to  you  for  the  benefit  of  your  correspondence,  when 
ever  your  own  convenience,  and  the  opportunities  of  a 
navigation,  so  restricted  as  I  am  afraid  ours  will  too  long 
continue  to  be,  may  permit.  And,  in  telling  you  how  much  I 
shall  prize  your  correspondence,  independently  of  the  gratifi 
cation  which  you  will  readily  conceive  an  exile  from  his  native 
land  must  derive  from  every  token  of  remembrance  coming 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  373 

from  those  whom  he  most  highly  values  in  it,  I  may  add, 
that  the  confidence  with  which  I  shall  receive  from  you  either 
intelligence  or  opinions,  will  be  founded  on  a  sentiment  very 
deeply  rooted  in  my  experience  and  observation,  that  you  see 
more  clearly  and  judge  more  coolly  of  men  and  things  relating 
to  our  political  world,  than  almost  any  other  man  with  whom 
it  has  ever  been  my  fortune  to  act  in  public  life.  The  spirit 
of  party  has  become  so  inveterate  and  so  virulent  in  our 
country,  it  has  so  totally  absorbed  the  understanding  and  the 
heart  of  almost  all  the  distinguished  men  among  us,  that  I, 
who  cannot  cease  to  consider  all  the  individuals  of  both  par 
ties  as  my  countrymen,  who  can  neither  approve  nor  disap 
prove  in  a  lump  either  of  the  men  or  the  measures  of  either 
party,  who  see  both  sides  claiming  an  exclusive  privilege  of 
patriotism  and  using  against  each  other  weapons  of  political 
warfare  which  I  never  can  handle,  cannot  but  cherish  that 
congenial  spirit,  which  has  always  preserved  itself  pure  from 
the  infectious  vapors  of  faction  ;  which  considers  temperance 
as  one  of  the  first  political  duties ;  and  which  can  perceive  a 
very  distinct  shade  of  difference  between  political  candor  and 
political  hypocrisy. 

"  It  affords  me  constant  pleasure  to  recollect,  that  the 
history  of  our  country  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of  such  a  man. 
For,  as  impartiality  lies  at  the  bottom  of  all  historic  truth,  I 
have  often  been  not  without  my  apprehensions,  that  no  true 
history  of  our  own  times  would  appear  at  least  in  the  course 
of  our  age  ;  that  we  should  have  nothing  but  Federalist 
histories  or  Republican  histories,  New  England  histories  or 
Virginia  histories.  We  are,  indeed,  not  over  stocked  with 
men,  capable  even  of  this,  who  have  acted  a  part  in  the  public 


374  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

affairs  of  our  Union.  But  of  men,  who  unite  both  qualifica 
tions — that  of  having  had  a  practical  knowledge  of  our  affairs, 
and  that  of  possessing  a  mind  capable  of  impartiality  in  sum 
ming  up  the  merits  of  our  governments,  administrations, 
oppositions,  and  people — I  know  not  another  man,  with  whom 
I  have  ever  had  the  opportunity  of  forming  an  acquaintance, 
on  the  correctness  of  whose  narrative  I  should  so  implicitly 
rely. 

"  Such  an  historian,  and  I  take  delight  in  the  belief,  will 
be  a  legislator  without  needing  constituents.  You  have  so 
long  meditated  upon  your  plan,  and  so  much  longer  upon  the 
duties  of  man  in  society,  as  they  apply  to  the  transactions  of 
your  own  life,  that  I  am  well  assured  your  work  will  carry  a 
profound  political  moral  with  it.  And  I  hope, — though  upon 
this  subject  I  have  had  no  hint  from  you,  which  can  ascertain 
that  your  view  of  the  subject  is  the  same  as  mine, — but  I  hope 
that  the  moral  of  your  history  will  be  the  indissoluble  union 
of  the  North  American  continent.  The  plan  of  a  New  Eng 
land  combination  m<  re  closely  cemented  than  by  the  general 
ties  of  the  Federal  government, — a  combination,  first  to  rule  the 
whole,  and,  if  that  should  prove  impracticable,  to  separate  from 
the  rest, — has  been  so  far  matured,  and  has  engaged  the  studies, 
the  intrigues  and  the  ambition  of  so  many  leading  men  in 
our  part  of  the  countiy,  that  I  think  it  will  eventually  pro 
duce  mischievous  consequences,  unless  seasonably  and  effect 
ually  discountenanced  by  men  of  more  influence  and  of  more 
comprehensive  views.  To  rise  upon  a  division  system  is 
unfortunately  one  of  the  most  obvious,  and  apparently  easy 
courses,  which  plays  before  the  eyes  of  individual  ambition,  in 
every  section  of  the  Union.  It  is  the  natural  resource  of  all 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  375 

the  small  statesmen,  who,  feeling  like  Cresar,  and  finding  that 
Rome  is  too  large  an  object  for  their  grasp,  would  strike  off  a 
village,  where  they  might  aspire  to  the  first  station  without 
exposing  themselves  to  derision.  This  has  been  the  most 
powerful  operative  impulse  upon  all  the  disunionists,  from  the 
first  Kentucky  conspiracy  down  to  the  negotiations  between 
Massachusetts,  Connecticut  and  New  Hampshire,  of  the  last 
winter  and  spring.  Considered  merely  as  a  purpose  of  ambi 
tion,  the  great  objection  against  this  scheme  is  its  littleness. 
Instead  of  adding  all  the  tribes  of  Israel  to  Judah  and  Benja 
min,  like  David,  it  is  walking  in  the  ways  of  Jeroboam,  the 
son  of  Nebat,  who  made  Israel  to  sin,  by  breaking  off  Samaria 
from  Jerusalem.  Looking  at  it  in  reference  to  moral  con 
siderations,  it  is  detestable,  as  it  certainly  cannot  be  accom 
plished  by  open  and  honorable  means.  Its  abettors  are 
obliged  to  disavow  their  real  designs,  to  affect  others,  to 
practice  continual  deception,  and  to  work  upon  the  basest 
materials, — the  selfish  and  dissocial  passions  of  their  instru 
ments.  Politically  speaking,  it  is  as  injudicious,  as  it  is  con- 

C 

tracted  and  dishonorable.  The  American  people  are  not 
prepared  for  disunion,  far  less  so  than  these  people  imagine. 
They  will  continue  to  resist  and  to  defeat  every  attempt  of 
that  character,  as  they  uniformly  have  done ;  and  such  pro 
jects  will  still  terminate  in  the  ruin  of  their  projectors.  But 
the  ill  consequences  of  this  turbulent  spirit  will  be  to  keep 
the  country  in  a  state  of  constant  agitation,  to  embitter  the 
local  prejudices  of  fellow  citizens  against  each  other,  and  to 
diminish  the  influence  which  ive  ought  to  have,  and  might  have 
in  the  general  councils  of  the  Union. 


376  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK. 

"  To  counteract  the  tendency  of  these  partial  and  foolish 
combinations,  I  know  nothing  so  likely  to  have  a  decisive 
influence  as  historical  works,  honestly  and  judiciously  executed. 
For,  if  the  doctrine  of  Union  were  a  new  one,  now  first  to  be 
inculcated,  our  history  would  furnish  the  most  decisive  argu 
ments  in  its  favor.  It  is  no  longer  the  great  lesson  to  be 
learned,  but  the  fundamental  maxim  to  be  confirmed,  and 
every  species  of  influence  should  be  exerted  by  all  genuine 
American  patriots  to  make  its  importance  more  highly  esti 
mated  and  more  -unquestionably  established.  I  should  have 
been  glad  to  see  a  little  more  of  this  tendency  in  Marshall's 
Life  of  Washington  than  I  did  find.  For  Washington  was 
emphatically  the  man  of  the  whole  Union  ;  and  I  see  a  little 
too  much  of  the  Virginian  in  Marshall.  Perhaps  it  was  una 
voidable  ;  and  perhaps  you  will  find  it  equally  impossible  to 
avoid  disclosing  the  New  England  man.  I  have  enough  of 
that  feeling  myself  most  ardently  to  wish,  that  the  highest 
example  of  a  truly  liberal  and  comprehensive  American  politi 
cal  system  may  be  exhibited  by  New  England  men. 

"  I  regret  that  I  could  not  have  the  pleasure  of  a  full  and 
confidential  personal  interview  with  you  before  my  departure. 
My  father,  I  am  sure,  will  be  happy  to  see  you  at  Quincy, 
and  to  furnish  you  any  materials  in  his  power.  He  has  been  for 
the  last  three  months  publishing  papers,  which  I  think  will 
not  be  without  their  use  to  your  undertaking. 

"  Adieu,  my  dear  sir.  I  write  you  this  letter  on  the  Grand 
Bank  of  Newfoundland,  after  passing  the  night  in  catching- 
cod,  of  which,  in  the  interval  of  a  six  hours'  calm,  we  have 
caught  upwards  of  sixty.  In  the  association  of  ideas,  there 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  377 

is  no  very  unnatural  transition  from  cod  fishing  on  the  Grand 
Bank  to  the  History  of  the  United  States.  No  man  will,  I 
trust,  be  better  able  than  yourself  to  supply  the  intermediate 
links  in  this  singular  concatenation.  Let  me  only  hope  that 
it  will  appear  to  you  as  natural  a  transition,  as  that  from  any 
subject  whatsoever,  to  the  assurance  of  the  respect  and  attach 
ment,  with  which  I  subscribe  myself  your  friend,  and  humble 
servant, 

"  JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS." 

In  the  divided  state  of  public  opinion  in  New 
Hampshire,  the  position  of  a  man  of  Mr  Plumer's 
talents  and  standing  was  not  a  matter  of  indifference 
to  either  party.  His  new  friends  were  anxious  to 
bring  him  once  more  into  public  life.  They  accord 
ingly  nominated  him  (Feb.  15, 1810,)  as  the  Republi 
can  candidate  for  Senator,  in  the  district  where  he 
resided.  He  was  unwilling  again  to  enter  on  the 
field  of  party  politics,  and  had  taken  some  pains  to 
secure  the  nomination  of  another  person ;  but  the 
unanimous  call  of  the  nominating  convention  over 
came  his  reluctance  ;  and,  having  once  assumed  his 
ground,  he  entered  with  his  usual  activity  into  the 
contest,  and  contributed  more,  probably,  than  any 
other  person  in  the  state,  to  the  success  of  the  party 
in  the  March  elections.  His  old  friend,  Judge  Smith, 
between  whom  and  himself  a  personal  difference  had 
occurred,  heightened,  probably,  on  both  sides,  by 


378  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK. 

party  feeling,  had,  the  previous  year,  been  elected 
Governor,  and  was  now  a  candidate  for  re-election. 
But  the  Republicans  carried  the  state ;  and  Langdon 
was  restored  to  his  old  office,  with  Republican  major 
ities  in  every  branch  of  the  government.  Mr. 
Plumer's  district  was  considered  a  doubtful  one  ;  and 
the  attack  of  the  Federalists  on  their  new  opponent 
was  of  the  most  unscrupulous  and  envenomed  char 
acter.  He  received,  on  this  occasion,  as  his  successor 
in  the  Senate,  Nahum  Parker,  said,  "  as  many  curses 
as  a  scape-goat  could  wag  with."  He  was  sustained, 
however,  by  the  Republicans  with  equal  zeal,  and 
was  elected  by  a  very  decided  majority.  The  rival 
candidate  was  George  Sullivan. 

In  announcing  his  election  to  his  friend  Adams,  he 
said,  (May  18th,)  "  Much  against  my  inclination,  I  was 
constrained  to  be  a  candidate ;  and  am  elected  a 
member  of  the  State  Senate.  This  has,  and  will,  too 
much  divert  my  attention  from,  my  historical  pur 
suits,  which,  however,  I  shall  not  long  neglect. 
I  bring  to  that  work  a  mind  purely  American, 
devoted  to  neither  of  the  parties  which  now  unfortu 
nately  agitate  and  divide  the  country,  in  both  of 
which  I  see  much  to  censure  and  condemn."  He  had 
not  yet  given  up  the  hope  to  proceed  with  this  work. 
He  had  recently  written  on  the  subject  to  Mr. 
Jefferson,  who  said  in  reply,  July  12th,  1810  : 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK.  379 

"  I  am  happy  to  hear  you  have  entered  on  a  work  so  inter 
esting  to  every  American  as  the  history  of  our  country.  That 
of  the  last  thirty  or  forty  years  admits,  certainly,  of  much  im 
provement  on  any  thing  which  has  yet  appeared  ;  and  when 
ever  it  shall  be  written  with  truth  and  candor,  and  with  that 
friendship  to  the  natural  rights  of  man,  in  which  our  revolu 
tion  and  constitution  are  founded,  it  will  be  a  precious  work. 
The  only  fund  for  information,  which  I  can  avail  you  of,  is 
my  memory  as  to  facts  which  have  occurred  within  my  own 
time — say  from  the  dawn  of  the  revolution,  aided  by  my 
letters,  written  at  the  time,  a  recurrence  to  which  will  refresh 
my  memory.  With  respect  to  any  facts  within  that  period, 
which  you  may  suppose  to  have  passed  under  my  observation, 
if  you  should,  at  any  time,  wish  information,  I  will  with 
pleasure  and  promptitude  communicate  what  I  know." 

On  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature,  in  June,  Mr. 
Plumer  was  chosen  President  of  the  Senate, — an 
office  whose  duties  he  discharged  to  the  entire  satis 
faction  of  that  body,  from  which  he  received,  at  the 
close  of  the  session,  a  unanimous  vote  of  thanks. 
There  was  little  business  of  importance  transacted 
during  this  session  of  the  Legislature.  His  part  in  it 
was  that  of  an  intelligent  and  independent  legislator, 
voting  according  to  his  own  sense  of  right,  now  with 
one  side  and  now  with  the  other,  with  very  little 
reference  to  party  views  or  policy.  More  than  once 
his  solitary  nay  was  recorded,  where  he  thought  both 
parties  wrong ;  and  his  new  friends  found  that  his  old 


380  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

habit  of  independent  action  had  lost  none  of  its  force 
by  his  change  of  party  associations.  "  As  President 
of  the  Senate,"  he  says,  June  16th,  1810,  "I  promptly 
discharge  my  duties,  speaking  and  acting  my  mind 
with  great  freedom.  I  examine  studiously  every 
question  which  I  am  bound  to  decide,  and  act  as  my 
judgment  dictates,  without  fear  or  partiality.  My 
influence  is  increasing.  The  Federalists  court  my 
favor ;  some  sincerely,  others  to  excite  distrust  in  the 
Republicans  against  me."  He  was  appointed  Chair 
man  of  two  Committees,  to  meet  in  the  recess ;  the 
one,  to  report  a  Judiciary  system  for  the  state ;  the 
other,  to  publish  a  revised  edition  of  the  laws.  But 
he  declined  both  these  appointments,  as  interfering 
too  much  with  his  literary  pursuits.  "  Nature,"  he 
said,  "  and  the  course  of  events  indicate  private  and 
literary  life;  and  to  that  my  inclination  tends.  I 
hope  I  shall  pursue  it  steadily."  Though  acting,  in 
the  main,  with  the  Republicans,  he  was  not  the  slave 
of  party.  A  person  having  been  nominated  to  an 
important  office,  for  which  he  thought  him  unfit,  and 
his  aid  being  asked  to  secure  his  election,  he  declined 
giving  it,  in  a  letter  dated  July  25th,  1810,  to  John  F. 
Parrot,  Chairman  of  the  Central  Committee.  "There 
is  no  error,"  he  said,  "more  fatal  than  that  of  selecting 
improper  men  for  office.  Men  of  this  character  I 
cannot  support.  Of  men  and  measures,  I  have  from 
early  life  been  in  the  habit  of  thinking  and  speaking 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  381 

freely.  This  right  I  cannot  consent  to  sacrifice  either 
at  the  shrine  of  party,  or  on  the  altar  of  popularity." 
There  was,  in  this,  little  of  "  the  zeal  of  a  new  convert," 
or  the  cool  calculation  of  the  "  apostate  politician," — 
terms  applied  to  him,  at  the  time,  by  men  who  could 
as  little  appreciate  his  motives  as  imitate  his  conduct. 
The  candidate  whom  he  had  thus  opposed,  hearing 
of  this  letter,  declined  the  nomination. 

Governor  Langdon  being  desirous,  from  the  infirm 
ities  of  age,  to  withdraw  from  public  life,  Mr.  Plume r 
was  mentioned,  among  others,  as  a  candidate  for  the 
succession.  In  reply  to  a  formal  application  from 
some  of  his  friends  in  Hillsborough  county,  he  said. 
"  We  must  persuade  Governor  Langdon  to  be,  once 
more,  our  candidate;"  and  he  accordingly  set  himself 
to  bring  about  this  result. 

"Having,"  he  writes,  (October  25th,)  "received  two  mes 
sages  from  Governor  Langdon,  I  paid  him  a  visit.  He  said 
that  office  was  burdensome  to  him  ;  that  he  was  desirous  of 
retirement,  and  anxious  that  I  should  be  his  successor.  I 
replied  that  I  preferred  private  to  public  life ;  and  that  office 
would  be  unwelcome  to  me ;  and  that  the  diversity  of  opinion 
among  Republicans  was  such  that,  unless  he  consented  to  be 
a  candidate,  we  should  endanger  trie  election.  I  left  him 
with  assuring  him  that  he  must  be  Governor  one  year." 

December  6th,,  1810.  "  Visited  Governor  Langdon.  He 
is  averse  to  being  a  candidate ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  appre 
hensive,  if  he  should  decline,  and  the  Eepublicans  fail,  that 


382  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

he  would  be  severely  censured.  He  said  that  at  his  advanced 
age,  he  could  neither  bear  these  reproaches,  nor  the  burdens  of 
office.  I  advised  him  to  submit  with  cheerfulness  to  the  will 
of  the  Republicans.  He-replied  that,  if  they  would  release  him, 
he  would  give  them  two  thousand  dollars  to  aid  my  election. 
His  situation  is  indeed  unpleasant.  He  is  desirous  of  retire 
ment,  but  afraid  to  insist  upon  it.  He  must,  however,  be  our 
candidate  for  the  next  year.  I  have  not  seen  him  for  some 
time  display  so  much  resolution,  judgment,  and  vivacity  as  he 
did  this  evening." 

This  desire  of  the  veteran  politician  to  decline 
office,  and  even  to  pay  for  being  excused  from  its 
labors,  was,  perhaps,  as  natural  at  seventy,  as  his 
fondness  for  it  had  been  at  an  earlier  date.  He 
finally  consented  to  remain  a  candidate,  and  was 
re-elected  in  March,  1811,  against  his  old  opponent, 
Oilman,  the  Federalists  having  dropped  Smith,  as 
less  likely  to  succeed.  Mr.  Plumer  was,  at  the  same 
time,  re-elected  to  the  Senate,  against  Oliver  Pea- 
body,  supposed  to  be  the  most  popular  Federalist  in 
this  doubtful  district.  At  the  meeting  of  the  Legis 
lature,  in  June,  he  was  again  chosen  President  of  the 
Senate. 

June  15th,  1811.  "  A  general  Republican  caucus  unani 
mously  nominated  John  Langdon  as  candidate  for  Governor 
next  year  ;  and  appointed  a  committee  to  wait  upon  him, 
and  receive  his  answer ;  which  answer  was  that  his  age  made 
it  necessary  for  him  to  decline. 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  383 

17th.  "In  the  evening  the  caucus  met  again;  heard  the 
report  of  the  committee,  and  appointed  a  committee  of  ten 
to  nominate  a  new  candidate. 

19th.  "I  had  two  questions,  to-day,  to  decide  in  the 
Senate,  in  which  the  earnest  requests  of  my  friends  were  op 
posed  to  what  I  thought  my  duty.  In.  both,  I  voted  according 
to  my  own  judgment.  I  cannot  consent  either  to  acquire,  or 
hold  office,  by  so  base  a  tenure  as  the  sacrifice  of  my  opinions  ; 
and  those  who  expect  it  from  me  will  be  disappointed.  It, 
in  general,  requires  less  information  to  discover  our  duty,  than 
firmness  to  perform  it.  In  the  evening  there  was  a  meeting, 
say  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  Republicans.  The  commit 
tee  unanimously  reported  me  as  a  candidate  for  Governor, 
next  year ;  which  report  was  unanimously  accepted.  They 
appointed  a  committee,  with  the  Speaker  as  chairman,  to 
inform  me  of  their  proceedings,  and  request  my  answer. 
After  General  Storer  had  made  the  communication,  I  observed 
to  the  committee,  that  I  was  sensible  of  the  honor  conferred 
upon  me  ;  that  my  wishes  centred  in  retirement ;  that  the 
state  of  my  health,  and  my  pursuits  in  life  required  it ;  and 
that  I  should  have  been  pleased  if  they  had  nominated  a  man 
better  qualified  for  that  high  trust,  and  more  ambitious  of 
obtaining  it ;  but  that  considering  the  state  of  public  affairs, 
and  the  unanimity  of  their  choice,  I  did  not  think  myself  at 
liberty  to  decline.  This  nomination  was  made  without  my 
privity,  and  unsought  by  me.  I  have  taken  no  measures, 
direct  or  indirect,  to  influence  any  man  \  but  have,  on  every 
occasion,  while  in  office,  done  what  I  thought  right  and  proper, 
regardless  of  the  consequences  to  myself.  When  first  informed 
of  the  vote  of  the  Republicans  to  support  me,  a  consideration 


384  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK. 

of  the  effects  an  election  will  necessarily  produce  on  my 
family  and  my  mode  of  living,  the  frequent  interruptions  it 
will  occasion  in  my  literary  pursuits,  the  high  responsibility  of 
the  office,  the  raised  expectations  of  my  friends,  the  inveterate 
opposition  of  my  political  enemies,  and  the  anxiety  I  must 
feel  in  office,  depressed  my  spirits,  and  made  me  regret  that 
my  name  had  been  mentioned.  But  sufficient  for  the  day  is 
the  evil  thereof. 

20th.  "  I  have  had  a  fatiguing  day  in  the  Senate,  where  I 
sat  twelve  hours,  and  did  much  business." 

21st.  "  The  Legislature  met  at  five  o'clock,  and  adjourned, 
sine  die,  between  ten  and  eleven  in  the  forenoon.  In  seven 
teen  days,  Sundays  included,  we  have  performed  the  legislative 
business  of  the  state  for  the  year." 

This  session  was  the  last  which  he  attended  as  a 
member.  He  had  served  eight  years  in  the  House, 
and  two  in  the  Senate ;  which,  with  his  five  years  in 
Congress,  made  fifteen  years  of  service  in  legislative 
assemblies. 

He  still  continued  occasionally  to  attend  the  courts 
of  law.  Under  date  of  August  26th,  1811,  he  writes: 

"  I  attended  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  in  Buckingham. 
I  was  treated  with  much  respect  by  the  Court  and  Bar.  The 
Federal  lawyers  were  distinguished  for  their  attentions ; 
Mason  and  Webster  particularly  so,  though  they  will  both 
vote  against  me  in  March.  I  inquired  of  Mason  whether,  in 
case  Evans  should  die,  or  Steel  resign — both  of  them  probable 
events,  he  would  accept  office  under  Livermore.  He  replied, 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  385 

he  could  not,  but  discovered  no  aversion  to  the  office.  He 
said  the  Federalists  of  Massachusetts  would  make  a  great 
effort  at  the  next  spring  elections ;  and,  if  they  failed,  they 
would  forciby  resist  the  laws  of  Congress.  I  replied,  that  I 
did  not  doubt  that  some  of  them  intended  to  do  so ;  but  I 
thought  they  would  be  disappointed.  He  said  that  he  was  re 
solved  to  have  but  little  to  do  with  politics ;  and  that  he  was 
censured  by  his  friends  for  his  inactivity." 

This  opinion  of  Mr.  Mason,  that  the  laws  would  be 
resisted,  was  founded,  probably,  among  other  things, 
upon  the  proceedings  of  the  Federalist  Convention, 
held  March  31st,  1811,  in  Boston,  which  resolved  that 
the  non-intercourse  law,  just  then  passed,  "  if  persisted 
in,  musty  and  will  be  resisted."  "  Resistance,"  said  Dr. 
Parish,  (April  llth,  1811,)  is  our  only  security."  The 
bill  providing  for  the  admission  of  Louisiana,  as  a  state, 
into  the  Union,  had  given  occasion  at  the  previous 
session,  (January  14th,  1811,)  for  a  strong  expression 
of  feeling  in  Congress  on  this  subject,  by  a  distin 
guished  member  from  Massachusetts,  Josiah  Quincy, 
afterwards  President  of  Harvard  University.  "  If  this 
bill  passes,"  said  Mr.  Quincy,  "it  is  my  deliberate 
opinion,  that  it  is  virtually  a  dissolution  of  this  Union; 
that  it  will  free  the  states  from  their  moral  obliga 
tions  ;  and,  as  it  will  then  be  the  right  of  all,  so  it  will 
be  the  duty  of  some,  to  prepare  definitely  for  a  separa 
tion, — amicably,  if  they  can,  violently,  if  they  must. 
The  bill,  if  it  passes,  is  a  death  blow  to  the  Consti- 

25 


386  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

tution.  It  may  afterwards  linger  ;  but  lingering,  its 
fate  will,  at  no  very  distant  period,  be  consummated." 
"I  have  known,"  wrote  John  Quincy  Adams  to 
Elbridge  Gerry,  at  this  time,  (June  30th,  1811,) 
"now  more  than  seven  years,  the  project  of  the  Bos 
ton  faction  against  the  Union.  They  have  ever  since 
that  time,  at  least,  been  seeking  a  pretext  and  an 
occasion  for  avowing  the  principle.  The  people,  how 
ever,  have  never  been  ready  to  go  with  them."  "  If," 
wrote  Allen  Bradford  to  Elbridge  Gerry,  (October 
18th,  1811,)  "our  national  rulers  continue  their  anti- 
commercial  policy,  the  New  England  States  will,  by 
and  by,  rise  in  their  wonted  strength  and,  with  the 
indignant  feelings  of  1775,  sever  themselves  from  that 
part  of  the  nation  which  thus  wickedly  abandons  their 
rights  and  interests."  "  There  is  no  state  of  parties," 
writes  Mr.  Plumer,  (December  30th,  1811,)  to  Charles 
Cutts,  Senator  from  New  Hampshire,  "so  much  to  be 
deprecated  as  that  designated  by  geographical  lines. 
It  is  with  deep  regret  that  I  find  the  terms  Northern 
and  Southern  parties  and  interests,  so  often  used  in 
the  debates  of  Congress..  Your  present  course  is,  you 
may  rely  upon  it,  highly  grateful  to  certain  Federal 
characters  in  New  England,  who  have  long  privately 
favored  a  division  of  the  states." 


CHAPTER     X . 

THE   CHIEF   MAGISTRATE. 

THE  office  of  Governor  of  New  Hampshire  had,  at 
this  time,  an  importance  attached  to  it  in  the  public 
estimation,  which  it  hardly  possesses  now.  The  office 
had  been,  for  many  years,  confined,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  a  single  term,  to  two  men, — John  Langdon, 
and  John  Taylor  Oilman.  Langdon,  the  leader  of  the 
Democracy,  was,  perhaps,  the  most  perfect  gentleman 
in  the  state ;  dignified,  yet  easy  in  his  deportment, 
urbane  and  courteous,  with  a  native  grace,  which 
won  the  good  will  and  respect  of  all  who  approached 
him.  Oilman,  the  representative  of  less  popular 
opinions,  was  also  a  man  of  good  personal  appearance 
and  refined  manners,  and  wore  the  old-fashioned 
cocked  hat  of  the  revolution  with  an  ease  and  dignity 
not  unbecoming  his  high  station.  I  remember  him 
fifty  years  ago,  when  I  was  a  student  in  the  Academy 
at  Exeter,  bowing  courteously  to  us  boys,  and  regarded 
by  us  as,  next  to  the  Principal,  Dr.  Abbott,  the 
greatest  of  men.  The  unpopularity  of  the  embargo 
had  made  Judge  Smith  Governor  in  1809 ;  but  he 
was  turned  out  to  pasture,  according  to  his  own 


388  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

expression,  a  yearling;  and  when,  in  1812,  Langdon 
declined  being  a  candidate,  Oilman  was  again  brought 
forward  as  the  man  most  likely  to  retrieve  the  fallen 
fortunes  of  his  party. 

The  contest  was  urged,  on  this  occasion,  writh  great 
zeal  on  both  sides ;  and,  on  the  part  of  the  Federalists, 
with  no  little  bitterness  towards  Mr.  Plumer.  Their 
feelings  were  sharpened  to  acrimony  by  his  former 
and  present  relations  with  them,  as  a  leader  in  their 
ranks,  and  now  their  most  formidable  opponent. 
Along  with  many  insinuations  and  much  reproach 
thrown  out,  as  usual  on  such  occasions,  two  specific 
personal  charges  were  brought  against  him;— the 
first,  that  he  had  formerly  been  a  Baptist  preacher, 
and  was  now,  probably,  (for  no  proof  was  offered,)  an 
unbeliever ;  and  the  second,  that,  from  being  once  a 
zealous  Federalist,  he  had  now  become  as  zealous  a 
Republican  ; — in  other  words,  his  change  of  opinion 
in  religion  and  in  politics.  The  first  of  these  charges, 
that  of  infidelity,  was  relied  on  as  likely  to  injure 
him  with  the  religious  portion  of  both  parties.  Yet 
such  is  the  general  indisposition  to  connect  religious 
belief  with  political  conduct,  that  he  lost  very  few 
votes  by  his  supposed  opinions  on  this  subject.  His 
known  exertions  at  the  bar  in  favor  of  equal  justice 
to  all  sects  had  secured  for  him  the  zealous  support 
of  the  Methodists,  Baptists,  and  other  minor  sects, 
who  felt  the  preponderance  of  the  Congregational 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  389 

clergy  as  unfavorable  to  their  success.  These  last 
were  almost  all  Federalists,  as  the  former  were  very 
generally  Republicans.  His  real  crime,  if  crime  it  be 
to  serve  the  state  rather  than  a  party,  was  that  he  no 
longer  acted  with  his  old  associates.  That  he  had 
been  a  Federalist,  was  readily  admitted  by  his  new 
friends ;  and  his  opponents  were  reminded  that,  as 
there  was  no  office  which  they  once  thought  too  good 
for  him,  they  could  not  wonder  that  the  Republicans, 
now  that  he  acted  with  them,  should  think  equally 
well  of  him.  Aside,  however,  of  these  merely  per 
sonal  considerations,  the  great  question  between  the 
two  parties  was  in  relation  to  the  measures  of  the 
general  government.  On  counting  the  votes,  in  June, 
it  appeared  that  there  was  no  choice  of  Governor  by 
the  people.  Of  the  eight  or  nine  hundred  votes 
thrown  for  other  than  the  regular  candidates,  some 
were  by  Federalists,  who  thought  that  Smith  had  not 
been  fairly  dealt  with  in  throwing  him  aside  for  Oil 
man;  and  some  by  Republicans,  who  remembered 
Plumer  chiefly  as  a  Federalist.  In  the  convention  of 
the  two  Houses,  he  was  elected  Governor,  (June  4th, 
1812,)  by  one  hundred  and  four  votes  against  eighty- 
two  for  Oilman.  All  branches  of  the  government, 
including  the  Council  and  the  Judiciary,  were  now 
Republican. 

The  Governor  elect  was  waited  upon,  at  his  house 


390  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

in  Epping,  by  a  Committee  of  the  Legislature,  and 
officially  informed  of  his  election. 

"  After  taking  breakfast,  lie  writes,  June  5th,  I  rode  with 
them  on  horseback  to  Concord.  At  Nottingham  we  were 
met  by  Gen.  Butler  and  Col.  Cilley,  [Cilley  was  one  of  his 
old  Federalist  friends,]  with  about  twenty  gentlemen,  who 
escorted  us  to  Deerfield.  There  I  was  importuned  to  wait 
for  a  company  of  cavalry ;  but  my  time  was  not  my  own,  and 
duty  forbade  delay.  About  a  dozen  gentlemen  escorted  me 
from  thence  to  Epsom,  where  I  met  Gov.  Langdon.  "When 
he  took  leave  of  me,  he  was  much  affected ;  tears  filled  his 
eyes,  and  impeded  his  utterance.  Having  dined  at  my  sister's, 
I  mounted  my  horse,  accompanied  by  some  twenty  g3ntle- 
men.  Two  miles  from  thence,  I  was  met  by  about  eighty 
more  on  horseback.  The  first  six  were  mounted  on  gray 
horses,  followed  by  the  Marshal  of  the  day,  and  the  Sheriffs 
of  Strafford  and  Rockingham.  I  came  next  to  these,  with 
two  Captains  of  the  United  States'  army,  one  on  each  side,  and 
after  me  the  remainder  of  the  escort.  On  passing  the  bridge 
at  Concord,  we  were  met  by  an  additional  escort.  The  pro 
cession  proceeded  to  Barker's  tavern,  where  we  arrived  at 
four  in  the  afternoon.  I  ordered  refreshments  for  all  who 
attended.  The  day  was  favorable  to  the  journey  ;  and  though 
I  had  not,  for  many  years,  rode  so  far  in  one  day  on  horse 
back,  I  was  less  fatigued  than  I  had  expected. 

June  6th.  "  At  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  I  took  my 
seat  in  the  Council  chamber  ;  and  soon  after,  a  Committee 
from  the  Legislature  conducted  me,  with  the  Council,  to  the 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  391 

Representatives'  hall,  where  the  two  Houses  were  assembled. 
After  making  a  short  address,  T  took  and  subscribed  the 
affirmation  of  office,  and,  after  being  seated  a  few  moments,  I 
rose  and  read  my  speech,  which  occupied  about  twenty  min 
utes.  I  was  agitated  ;  my  hand  trembled  ;  and,  before  I  had 
read  through  the  second  paragraph,  I  was  apprehensive  that 
I  should  be  obliged  to  stop.  But  my  confidence  increased ; 
and  I  pronounced  the  remainder  with  ease  and  propriety." 

Ease  is  not,  however,  the  word  to  express  properly 
the  manner  in  which  this  speech  was  delivered.  His 
momentary  embarrassment  —  the  not  ungraceful 
deference  of  the  orator  to  his  audience — was  followed 
by  a  reaction  of  unusual  power  and  animation,  which 
gave  new  force  to  his  delivery,  and  produced  a 
marked  effect,  both  on  the  convention,  and  on  the 
crowds  in  the  lobbies  and  galleries.  There  was  some 
thing  in  his  look  and  manner,  in  his  tones  and 
gestures,  as  well  as  in  the  words  he  uttered,  which 
lifted  men,  at  times,  from  their  seats,  as  by  an  electric 
transfusion  of  thought  and  feeling,  but  which  the 
words,  as  we  now  read  them,  seem  hardly  adequate 
to  produce.  He  received  from  both  friends  and 
opponents  many  compliments  on  the  ability  displayed 
on  this  occasion ;  and  the  speech  itself  was  regarded 
by  the  public,  both  in  and  out  of  the  state,  with  much 
favor.  It  was  delivered  a  few  days  only  before  the 
declaration  of  war  with  England,  and  it  struck  in 
happily  with  the  prevailing  tone  of  the  public  feeling 


392  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK. 

on  that  subject.  The  answers  of  both  Houses 
responded  fully  to  the  sentiments  of  the  speech ;  but 
they  were  adopted  by  a  strictly  party  vote.  The 
Governor's  old  correspondent,  Thomas  W.  Thompson, 
offered,  in  behalf  of  the  Federalists  of  the  House,  to 
return  a  general  complimentary  answer  to  the  speech, 
condemning  the  conduct  of  both  France  and  Eng 
land,  and  speaking  vaguely  and  in  general  terms, 
without  censure  or  approbation,  of  the  policy  of  the 
administration.  But  the  Republicans  were  too 
strong,  and  too  decided  in  their  opinions,  to  admit  of 
any  such  compromise  or  concealment.  I  have  not 
room  to  quote  this  speech  entire,  and  am  unable 
to  give  extracts  that  would  adequately  represent  its 
views  and  reasonings. 

The  Legislature  adjourned  on  the  19th  of  June,  to 
meet  again  in  November.  The  following  is  from  Mr. 
Plumer's  diary : 

June  20th.  "  At  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  I  mounted 
my  horse  for  home,  and  was  escorted  the  whole  distance  by  a 
large  and  increasing  military  escort  and  cavalcade ;  till, 
between  two  and  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  I  reached 
my  house,  where  liberal  refreshments  were  furnished  to  the 
people." 

June  23d.  "  In  the  evening  I  received  by  an  express  a  let 
ter  from  Major-General  Dearborn,  stating  that  he  was  official 
ly  informed  that  the  government  of  the  United  States  had 
declared  war  against  Great  Britain,  and  requesting  me  to  order 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  393 

out  one  company  of  artillery,  and  one  of  infantry,  of  the 
detached  militia,  and  place  them  under  the  command  of  Major 
Upham  of  the  United  States  army,  at  Portsmouth,  for  the 
defence  of  the  sea-coast." 

June  21th.  "  I  issued  orders  to  General  Storer  to  order 
out  the  troops  in  conformity  with  this  requisition." 

July  7th.  "  Last  evening  I  received  a  requisition  from 
General  Dearborn  to  send  one  company  of  detached  militia  to 
defend  the  northern  frontier  of  this  state.  To-day,  I  issued 
orders  to  General  Montgomery  to  call  them  out  from  his 
brigade,  and  station  them  at  Stewartstown  and  Errol." 

July  21st.  "I  issued  an  order  to  General  Storer,  requir 
ing  him  to  send  one  company  of  the  detached  infantry  of  his 
brigade  to  Portsmouth  harbor,  and  to  detach  a  suitable  Major 
to  take  the  command  of  the  troops  at  Forts  Constitution  and 
McClary ;  and  also  to  General  Robinson  to  send  one  company 
of  the  detached  artillery  from  his  brigade  to  the  same  place, 
for  the  defence  of  the  sea-coast." 

August  6th.  "  I  met  the  Council  at  Concord.  I  requested 
their  attention  to  the  appointment  of  a  Judge  of  the  Superior 
Court,  which  was  the  occasion  of  our  meeting.  After  a  free 
conversation,  in  which  I  stated  my  opinion  of  the  importance 
of  the  office,  and  the  necessity  of  selecting  a  man  of  talents 
and  integrity,  who  had  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  law,  I  pro 
posed  Samuel  Bell,  as  a  person  well  qualified  by  his  talents,  his 
attainments,  his  business  habits,  and  his  decision  of  character, 
to  discharge  with  dignity  and  propriety  the  duties  of  the 
office.  His  connection  with  the  Hillsborough  Bank  would 
render  the  appointment  at  first  unpopular  ;  but  I  was  willing 
to  take  the  responsibility  on  myself,  and  had  no  doubt  his 


394  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

good  conduct  would  soon  remove  those  prejudices.  The 
Councillors  gave  no  opinion,,  except  Chase,  who  declared  in 
favor  of  the  appointment.  In  the  evening,  Hall,  Upham,  and 
Smith,  the  three  Republican  Councillors,  came  to  my  chamber, 
to  converse  on  the  appointment  of  a  judge.  The  result  was 
that  Hall  and  Smith  positively  refused  to  agree  to  the  nomi 
nation  of  Bell ;  and  Upham  said,  if  Franklin  and  Chase  were 
in  favor  of  Bell,  he  could  not  -unite  with  those  two  Federal 
Councillors.  As  they  had  thus  virtually  negatived  the  man 
whom  I  considered  best  qualified  for  the  office,  I  requested 
them  to  name  a  candidate.  They  proposed  Clifton  Claggett. 
I  said,  I  thought  him  honest,  but  that  his  talents  and  legal 
attainments  were  not  above  mediocrity.  I  wished  a  man  of 
superior  qualifications  ;  but  I  would  consider  of  it." 

June  7th.  "  In  the  morning  I  met  the  Council.  Hall 
named  Claggett.  Chase  observed  that  he  could  not  vote  for 
him  till  he  knew  the  opinion  of  the  Executive  respecting 
Caleb  Ellis,  whom  he  wished  to  propose.  I  said,  I  considered 
Mr.  Ellis  an  honest  man  and  a  sound  lawyer.  Chase  and 
Franklin  voted  for,  and  the  other  three  against  him.  Before 
we  rose  from  our  seats,  Mr.  Franklin  said,  he  wished  to  ask 
me  a  question,  but  had  doubts  of  the  propriety  of  it.  I 
requested  him  to  proceed.  He  said  it  was  reported  in  the 
newspapers,  that  I  had  declared  the  present  war  premature 
and  unjust,  and  he  wanted  to  know  whether  this  was  true. 
I  replied  that  it  was  not  true,  that  I  believed  the  war  both 
just  and  necessary,  and  considered  it  my  indispensable  duty  to 
support  it." 

The  assertion  that  Governor  Plumer  had  declared 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  395 

the  war  "premature  and  impolitic"  was  first  made 
in  an  Exeter  paper,  distinguished  for  the  virulence  of 
its  abuse  of  the  Governor ;  and  though  contradicted 
at  the  time  in  the  Concord  Patriot,  it  was  repeated 
in  the  Federalist  papers,  in  this  and  other  states ;  and, 
seventeen  years  after,  found  its  way  into  Bradford's 
History  of  Massachusetts.  On  seeing  it  there  he  wrote 
to  the  author,  contradicting  the  statement,  and 
received  from  him  a  promise  to  correct  the  error 
in  his  next  edition.  As  no  such  edition  has  yet 
appeared,  I  have  thought  the  report  worth  noticing 
here.  To  proceed  with  the  journal : 

' '  In  the  afternoon,  the  question  was  taken  on  the  nomina 
tion  of  Claggett  for  Judge.  Three  of  the  council  made  it, 
and  I  reluctantly  consented.  As  he  is  Judge  of  Probate,  and 
must  resign  that  office,  to  accept  the  other,  I  named  John 
Harris  as  his  successor.  Mr.  Chase  said  be  was  in  favor  of 
nominating  Mr.  Smith.  I  observed  that  I  could  not  agree 
to  appoint  any  Councillor  to  an  office  which,  would  vacate 
bis  seat  at  tbe  Board,  and  tbat  I  dissented  from  the  former 
practice." 

This  former  practice,  which  had  of  late  become  very 
common,  was  for  one  Councillor  to  nominate  another 
for  some  office,  in  the  well-founded  expectation  that 
the  favor  would  be  returned;  and  the  result  often 
was,  that,  at  the  end  of  the  year,  several  of  the  Coun 
cillors,  sometime  a  majority,  had  secured  to  them- 


396  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

selves  good  offices,  virtually  by  their  own  appoint 
ment,  though,  perhaps,  no  one  had  directly  voted  for 
himself.  Governor  Plumer  set  his  face  resolutely 
against  this  abuse  of  the  appointing  power ;  and  no 
such  appointment  took  place,  while  he  was  in  office, 
though  the  attempt  was  made  to  force  several  upon 
him.  With  the  selection  of  Claggett  for  Judge  of  the 
Superior  Court,  he  was  not  satisfied ;  and  afterwards 
reproached  himself  with  not  having  more  resolutely 
opposed  it.  Livermore,  the  Chief  Justice,  though  a 
strong  man,  felt  the  need  of  abler  associates.  Evans, 
who  was  not  a  lawyer,  had  been  prevented,  by  ill 
health,  from  sitting  on  the  bench  more  than  one  day 
for  ths  last  eighteen  months.  On  applying  in  person 
for  an  order  for  his  quarter's  salary,  the  Governor  ad 
verted  delicately  to  the  condition  of  the  court,  when 
Evans  said  that  he  had  some  thoughts  of  resigning, 
but  that  he  was  poor  as  well  as  sick,  and  wanted  the 
emoluments  of  the  office  for  his  support,  "  To  remove 
a  sick  man,"  says  the  Governor,  in  his  journal, 
"oppressed  writh  poverty,  is  a  hardship  to  him;  to 
continue  him  in  office  is  a  greater  hardship  to  the 
state.  The  Legislature  must  decide."  They  had 
decided,  in  June,  not  to  request  his  removal ;  and 
without  such  request,  the  Governor  could  not  act 
in  the  case. 

On  the  18th  of  November,  he  again  met  the  Legis 
lature.     His  speech,  on  this  occasion,  was  occupied, 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  397 

as  the  previous  one  had  been,  mainly  with  the  war, 
and  circumstances  growing  out  of  it.  Both  Houses 
returned  answers  to  the  speech,  approving  of  the 
war,  and  of  "the  prompt  and  patriotic  manner  in 
which  the  call  of  the  President  respecting  the  mili 
tia  was  complied  with."  The  Federalists,  in  both 
branches,  voted  against  the  answers,  and,  in  the 
House,  entered  their  protest  on  the  journals.  This 
protest  pronounced  the  war  unjust  and  inexpedient ; 
but  its  chief  argument  was  directed  against  the  power 
claimed  by  the  President  of  calling  out  the  militia,  and 
placing  them  under  officers  of  the  United  States.  The 
Federalist  Governors,  Strong  of  Massachusetts,  and 
Griswold  of  Connecticut,  had  refused  to  comply  with 
the  requisitions  of  General  Dearborn,  on  the  ground 
that,  having  a  right  to  judge  for  themselves  whether 
the  call  was  necessary,  they  saw  no  occasion  for  its 
exercise  at  the  present  time.  It  was  further  held  in 
Massachusetts  and  Vermont,  that,  though  the  Presi 
dent,  when  himself  in  the  field,  might  command  in 
person  the  militia  of  a  state  called  into  service,  he 
could  not  put  them  under  the  command  of  any  other 
than  their  own  state  officers.  Governor  Gore  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  said  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
December,  1814,  "The  President  is  commander  in 
chief  of  the  militia  when  in  the  actual  service  of  the 
United  States ;  but  there  is  not  a  tittle  of  authority 
for  any  other  officer  of  the  'United  States  to  assume 


398  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

the  command  of  the  militia,"  It  was  only  in  the 
Federalist  states  of  New  England  that  these  doctrines 
were  maintained.  In  the  other  states  the  power  of 
the  President  over  the  militia  was  not  contested.  It 
is  a  curious  fact,  overlooked  at  the  time  by  both 
parties  in  this  controversy,  that  the  Legislature  of 
New  Hampshire,  (in  June,  1794,)  by  a  resolution,  still 
in  force,  had  authorised  the  Governor  to  call  out  the 
militia  whenever  required  by  the  President. 

The  choice  of  a  Senator  of  the  United  States  occur 
ring  at  this  time,  many  attempts  were  made,  but 
without  success,  to  elect  one.  The  Republicans  had 
a  majority  of  only  one  in  the  Senate ;  and  Sanborn 
of  Epsom,  one  of  that  majority,  would  vote  for  no 
man  whom  the  others  were  willing  to  elect.  Among 
those  proposed,  was  the  Governor,  but  Sanborn 
refused  to  vote  for  him,  on  the  ground,  avowed  in 
the  Senate,  that  the  Republicans  had  no  other  man 
whom  they  could  run  as  Governor  with  any  chance 
of  success,  and  that  to  elect  him  was  to  ensure  their 
own  defeat  in  March.  The  Governor  being  consulted 
on  the  subject,  said  that  he  preferred  his  present 
office  to  that  of  Senator,  and  private  life  to  either ; 
and  hoped,  therefore,  that  no  votes  would  be  thrown 
for  him.  It  was  generally  supposed  that  Sanborn's 
vote  might  have  been  obtained,  if  he  had  desired  it. 
But  he  felt  that  a  hard  battle  was  to  be  fought  by 
the  Republicans  in  the  March  elections,  and  that  his 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  399 

proper  place  was  here  in  the  front  of  that  battle. 
Defeat  was  probable ;  but  this  was  no  reason  why  he 
should  shun  the  contest. 

On  most  of  the  subjects  recommended  by  him  to 
the  attention  of  the  Legislature,  they  had  acted  in  ac 
cordance  with  his  wishes.  He  had,  however,  during 
this  year,  returned  one  law  and  two  resolves,  with  his 
objections  to  them.  It  is  a  singular  proof  both  of  his 
personal  influence  and  of  the  facility  with  which 
improper  measures  are  often  adopted,  that  each  of 
the  acts  on  which  he  thus  imposed  his  veto,  was,  on 
being  returned,  unanimously  rejected ;  not  a  single 
vote  being  given  for  laws  which  a  majority  of  both 
Houses  had  just  before  passed.  In  one  of  these  cases, 
private  rights  were  injuriously  affected,  and  important 
public  interests  sacrificed,  by  the  proposed  enactment. 
So  important  is  often  the  final  supervision  of  a  vigi 
lant  Executive,  in  the  judicious  use  of  an  independent 
veto.  Here  were  bills  which  had  been  read  three 
times,  at  different  hours,  in  each  House,  and  passed 
by  both,  which  yet,  on  revision,  every  one  saw  ought 
not  to  become  laws.  Among  the  measures  of  the 
year,  which  were  of  permanent  importance,  were  the 
building  of  the  State's  Prison,  or  Penitentiary,  and 
the  consequent  revision  of  the  Criminal  Code.  There 
were,  at  this  time,  eight  offences  punishable  with 
death;  they  were  now  reduced  to  two,  treason  and 
murder ;  the  former  an  offence,  of  which  no  one  has 


400  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

ever  been  convicted  in  New  Hampshire.  Instead  of 
the  old  punishments  of  the  whip  and  the  pillory, 
formerly  used  for  minor  offences,  imprisonment  in 
the  State's  Prison,  or  in  the  County  Jail,  was  now 
substituted. 

A  few  extracts  from  letters  and  journals  of  the 
year  will  give  a  sufficient  expression  of  the  feelings 
and  opinions  of  the  period. 

To  Samuel  D.  Mitchell,  a  Senator  from  New  York, 
(January  1st,  1812 :) 

"  Shall  we  have  war  with  Great  Britain  ?  If  we  persist  in 
our  preparations,  will  she  repeal  her  Orders  in  Council,  per 
mit  us  the  exercise  of  our  rights  on  the  ocean,  and  cease 
from  impressing  our  seamen  ?  If  she  does  not,  are  we  to 
proceed  from  words  to  deeds — from  acts  of  Congress  to  feats 
of  arms  ;  or  are  we,  by  tamely  submitting  to  new  injuries,  to 
provoke  fresh  insults  ?  The  nation  has  grown  tired  of  the 
exercise  of  its  restrictive  energies  in  the  shape  of  embargoes 
and  non-intercourse,  and  calls  loudly  for  more  active  arid 
efficient  measures." 

To  John  A.  Harper,  a  Representative  from  New 
Hampshire,  (May  18,  1812:) 

"  There  are  numbers  of  Federalists  who  wish  a  separation 
of  the  states ;  but  I  believe  none  of  them  have  hardihood 
enough  to  come  out  now,  and  take  publicly  on  themselves  the 
responsibility  of  the  measure.  It  is  a  settled  plan  with  them, 
whenever  a  dismemberment  of  the  Union  is  to  be  attempted, 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  401 

that  it  be  declared  by  some  State  Legislature  ;  and  this  year 
even  Massachusetts  has  a  Republican  Senate." 

The  Federalists,  despairing  of  electing  to  the  Presi 
dency  any  candidate  of  their  own,  had  concluded,  at 
this  time,  to  support  De  Witt  Clinton,  of  New  York, 
who  was  nominated  by  a  portion  of  the  Republicans 
against  Mr.  Madison. 

Sept.  llth.  "Head  the  address  of  the  New  York  Conir 
mittce  in  favor  of  Clinton.  In  a  state  of  war,  it  is  an  im 
proper  time  to  talk  about  Virginia  influence,  or,  indeed,  the 
influence  of  any  other  state.  Our  united  energies  should  be 
directed  against  the  common  enemy  of  our  country.  I  shall 
vote  for  Madisonian  electors." 

Oct.  20th.  "  The  Essex  junto  are  not  so  much  anxious  to 
secure  Clinton's  election  as  to  prevent  Mr.  Madison's  having 
a  single  electoral  vote  in  New  England,  that  they  may 
promote  their  favorite  object,  the  dismemberment  of  the 
Union." 

Madison  was,  in  fact,  re-elected  under  a  strong 
sectional  influence,  having  received  all  the  Southern 
and  Western  votes,  and  none  north  of  Pennsylvania, 
except  six  given  him  by  the  Legislature  of  Vermont, 
at  a  time  when  the  people,  if  allowed  to  vote,  would 
have  given  them  to  Clinton. 

The  subject  of  the  right  of  the  State  Legislatures 
to  bind,  by  mandatory  instructions,  their  Senators 
in  Congress,  excited  at  this  time  much  attention. 


•102  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

William  B.  Giles,  of  Virginia,  who  denied  this  right, 
had  sent  a  copy  of  his  speech  on  this  subject  to  Gov 
ernor  Plumer,  who  (Dec.  28th,)  said,  in  reply: 

tf  I  most  cordially  approve  of  your  opinion  ;  and  thank  you 
for  the  manly  and  able  stand  you  have  made  in  supporting 
the  rights  and  independence  of  the  Senate.  Encroachments 
on  the  rights  of  public  functionaries  are  as  fatal  to  freedom, 
as  if  made  on  the  people  themselves.  Both  must  be  steadily 
resisted,  or  a  free  government  cannot  be  supported.  The 
public  interests  suffer  more  from  an  inordinate  love  of  office, 
and  a  servile  dependence  on  popular  opinion,  than  they  can 
do  from  any  undue  exercise  of  independent  self-will  in  public 
men.  Such  independence  is  all  too  rare  in  our  country." 

"It  gives  me  great  pleasure,"  said  Giles,  in  reply,  (March 
3d,  1813,)  "to  learn  that  you  concur  in  opinion  with  rne  ; 
because  the  confidence  I  feel  in  your  judgment  can  but  serve 
to  confirm  me  in  that  opinion.  I  have  read,  with  great  atten 
tion  and  interest,  your  able  and  patriotic  speech  to  the 
Legislature  of  New  Hampshire.  If  such  sentiments  actuated 
every  bosom  in  the  United  States,  there  could  not  exist  a 
doubt  of  a  speedy  and  honorable  termination  of  the  war." 

The  Governor  had  received  similar  commendations 
of  his  speech  from  other  quarters — among  the  rest, 
one  from  John  Adams.  "  I  thank  you,"  said  the  Ex- 
President,  "  for  your  eloquent  and  masterly  speech, 
which  I  read  with  much  satisfaction."  He  received 
soon  after,  (Jan.  10th,  1813,)  another  letter  from  Mr. 
Adams,  in  which  he  says: 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEE.  403 

ff  I  know  not  when,  or  where,  I  have  ever  received  a  more 
luminous  letter  than  yours  of  the  second  of  this  month.  It 
is  a  misfortune  to  an  old  man  to  receive  a  good  letter ;  be 
cause  it  springs  a  mine  in  his  memory,  and  disposes  him  to 
write  a  volume,  which  his  life  could  not  be  lo  ng  enough  to 
finish.  Hence  the  proverbial  garrulity  of  age.  You  have 
consolidated  the  causes  of  change  in  the  Northern  States  ;  or, 
at  least,  your  observations  coincide  with  mine.  Our  two 
great  parties  have  crossed  over  the  valley,  and  taken  posses 
sion  of  each  other's  mountain.  The  coalition  of  North  and 
Fox,  in  1783,  was  modest  in  comparison  with  that  between 
Clinton  and  the  Federalists.  To  Jay,  King,  Eoss  and 
Pinckney,  the  pill  was  too  bitter.  A  gentleman  of  greater 
talents  and  higher  rank  than  Rufus  King,  asked  him,  at  New 
York,  '  Do  you  intend  to  vote  for  De  Witt  ? '  Eufus  replied, 
1  No ;  could  you  vote  for  Ben  Austin  ? '  I  can  say  little  of 
Mr.  Clinton  ;  for  I  know  nothing  but  by  hearsay,  having 
never  seen  him.  But  one  thing  I  know.  The  state  of  New 
York  has  become  a  great  state,  and  De  Witt  Clinton  a  great 
man,  good,  bad,  or  indifferent.  The  generous  horse,  New 
England,  will  be  ridden  as  hard  by  New  York  as  it  ever  has 
been  by  Virginia. 

"  The  clergy  of  this  country  are  growing  more  and  more 
like  the  clergy  of  all  other  countries.  Osgood,  Parish, 
Gardiner,  are  but  miniatures  of  Lowth,  Sacheverel,  Laud, 
and  Lorain ;  and  in  that  rank  I  leave  them." 

The  division  here  indicated  among  leaders  of  the 
Federal  party  was  not  confined  to  the  question  of 
supporting  Clinton  for  the  Presidency.  Many  emi- 


404  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

nent  Federalists,  though  originally  opposed  to  the 
war,  held  that,  once  declared,  it  should  be  vigorously 
prosecuted ;  and  they  would  do  nothing  unnecessarily 
to  embarrass  the  government  in  its  prosecution.  But 
the  majority  of  the  party,  looking  mainly  to  party 
objects,  saw  only  in  the  difficulties  and  embarrass 
ments  of  the  times  the  means  of  effecting  their  own 
advancement  to  power.  Such  of  them  as  deemed 
disunion  desirable,  were,  of  course,  anxious  to  increase 
these  embarrassments,  as  sure  to  accelerate  the  crisis. 
Among  the  Federalists  of  New  England,  who  protested 
loudly  against  this  policy  of  their  former  associates, 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  was  Samuel  Dexter, 
of  Boston,  formerly  a  Senator  in  Congress,  and  after 
wards  Secretary  of  War  under  John  Adams,  who 
as  a  lawyer  now  stood  at  the  head  of  his  profession  in 
the  Union.  In  a  speech  at  a  town  meeting  in  Faneuil 
Hall  (Aug.  6th,  1812,)  lie  denounced  the  measures  of 
the  party  with  great  force  and  earnestness,  as  leading 
inevitably  to  a  separation  of  the  states.  So  deep, 
indeed,  had  his  convictions  on  this  subject  become 
before  the  end  of  the  war,  that,  though  having  little 
sympathy  with  the  Republicans,  he  suffered  himself  to 
be  run  against  Strong,  as  their  candidate  for  Gov 
ernor.  He  was,  he  said,  utterly  unable  to  reconcile 
some  of  the  leading  measures  of  the  Federalists  with 
the  indispensable  duty  of  every  citizen  in  every 
country,  and  especially  in  the  American  Republic,  to 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  405 

hold  sacred  the  union  of  his  country.  "  Why/'  said 
he,  "make  publications  and  speeches  to  prove  that 
we  are  absolved  from  allegiance  to  the  national 
government,  and  hint  that  an  attempt  to  divide  the 
empire  might  be  justified?"  Dexter,  the  greatest 
lawyer,  and  Gray,  the  greatest  merchant  of  the 
United  States,  both  previously  Federalists,  were  now 
the  Republican  candidates  in  Massachusetts,  as 
Plumer  was  in  New  Hampshire  ;  men  whose  opinions 
had  undergone  little  change  as  to  past  measures,  but 
who  felt  it  their  duty  to  support  the  administration 
of  their  country  against  a  foreign  power,  in  opposition 
to  the  mistaken  policy  of  their  former  friends.  Dis 
tinguished  Federalists  out  of  New  England  regarded 
the  subject  much  in  the  same  light.  William  Pinck- 
ney,  Rufus  King,  James  A.  Bayard,  and  Robert  G.  Har 
per  were  of  this  number.  The  latter  said,  speaking  of 
the  war,  (Oct.  31st,  1812,)  "The  Eastern  States  will 
soon  relieve  themselves  from  a  burden  which  they 
will  consider  as  no  longer  tolerable,  by  erecting  a 
separate  government  for  themselves.  Thus  the  dis 
solution  of  the  Union,  and  all  the  direful  evils 
attendant  upon  it,  must,  as  we  believe,  be  the  last 
and  necessary  consequence  of  continuing  the  present 
war."  It  was  impossible,  indeed,  not  to  see  that 
there  was,  at  this  time,  a  great  body  of  men  of 
talents,  wealth,  and  political  influence,  who  were  sys 
tematically  employed  in  prejudicing  the  people  of 


406  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

New  England  against  the  Southern  and  Western 
States,  sowing  discord  and  distrust  between  them, 
and  thus  weakening  the  Union.  Many  who  labored 
to  this  end  were  ignorant  of  the  purpose  they  were 
subserving ;  there  were  others  who  acted  under  no 
such  mistake  as  to  the  tendency  of  their  measures. 

It  was  a  great,  and,  as  the  result  proved,  a  fatal  error 
of  the  Federal  party,  in  the  latter  stages  of  its  exist 
ence,  that  it  allowed  its  feelings  of  opposition  to  the 
Republicans  to  determine  the  course  of  its  foreign 
policy  to  an  extent  which,  in  the  popular  estimation 
at  least,  identified  it,  in  the  end,  with  the  enemies  of 
the  country.  In  the  successes  of  England  they  saw 
not  so  much  the  defeat  of  an  American  by  a  British 
force,  as  the  overthrow  of  their  political  opponents, 
and  their  own  consequent  advancement  to  power. 
They  considered  England  as  excused,  if  not  justified, 
in  her  measures,  by  the  necessities  of  her  position, 
and  by  the  previous  acts  of  France,  to  which  hers 
were,  as  they  said,  little  more  than  a  just  retaliation. 
Under  the  influence  of  such  feelings  many  worthy 
citizens  were  seen  to  rejoice  over  British  victories, 
and  to  mourn  over  those  of  their  own  country.  Pas 
sion,  prejudice,  personal  interests,  and  the  disappoint 
ments  consequent  on  reiterated  party  defeats,  had 
so  embittered  their  feelings,  that  the  foreign  foe 
seemed  less  obnoxious  to  them  than  the  domestic 
rival  and  opponent.  The  rancor  thus  engendered  on 


LIFE      OF      WILLIAM      PLUMER.  407 

the  one  side,  was  met,  on  the  other,  with  equal 
warmth  of  feeling  by  the  friends  of  the  administration. 
The  seceders  from  the  Federal  party,  in  particular, 
felt  that  their  first  allegiance  was,  not  to  party,  but 
to  their  country ;  and  that,  as  the  Republicans  were 
upholding,  in  this  war,  the  essential  rights  of  the 
United  States  against  foreign  aggression,  they  were 
entitled  to  their  earnest  support,  as  against  the 
foreign  foe.  Mr.  Plumer  was  not  of  a  temperament 
to  be  cold  or  indifferent  in  such  contests ;  and  he 
came  ultimately  to  regard  the  success  of  his  old  asso 
ciates  of  the  Federal  party,  acting  as  they  now  were 
under  the  triple  influence  of  devotion  to  England, 
hatred  of  France,  and  hostility  to  their  own  govern 
ment,  as  utterly  unworthy  of  the  public  confidence, 
and  their  success  as  fatal  to  the  best  interests  of  the 
country.  The  more  violent  of  them  differed,  indeed, 
in  his  opinion,  little  in  feeling  or  conduct,  from  those 
furious  Jacobins  who,  taking  part  with  a  foreign 
power  against  their  own  government,  had,  under 
Washington  and  Adams,  justified  the  worst  aggres 
sions  of  France  on  the  United  States.  He  condemned 
such  conduct  then,  and  he  saw  no  reason  to  approve 
it  now. 

The  spring  elections  of  1813  were  conducted  with 
great  zeal  and  vigor  on  both  sides,  but  with  less  per 
sonal  abuse  of  the  Governor  than  in  the  preceding 
year.  His  dignified  and  impartial  conduct  in  office 


408  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

had  inspired  even  his  opponents  with  a  respect  for 
him,  which  was  apparent  on  this  occasion.  "No 
part/'  he  says,  (March  9th,  1813,)  "of  my  official 
conduct  has  been  condemned,  but  that  of  ordering 
out  the  detached  militia,  The  great  accusation  is, 
that  I  support  the  war,  and  vindicate  the  national 
government."  The  result  of  the  canvass  was  the 
election  of  Gov.  Oilman,  by  a  majority  of  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  votes,  out  of  more  than  thirty-five 
thousand  thrown.  So  well  was  each  party  satisfied  with 
its  own  leader,  that  there  were  few  or  no  scattering 
votes.  "  The  recent  elections  in  New  Hampshire,"  said 
Mr.  Plurner,  in  a  letter  to  President  Madison,  (March 
27th,)  "have  terminated,  by  small  majorities,  in  favor 
of  the  Federalists.  Had  our  Republican  citizens,  who 
are  absent  in  the  army,  been  at  the  polls,  we  should 
have  succeeded.  I  trust  that  our  failure  will  not,  in 
the  least,  influence  the  administration  to  relax  in  their 
measures  to  prosecute  the  war,  or  induce  them  to 
conclude  a  peace  on  unfavorable  terms."  Under 
date  of  May  12th,  he  writes :  "  Met  the  Council  at 
Concord.  I  have  not  to-day  had  a  moment's  leisure 
— company  the  whole  day  and  late  at  night — office- 
seekers  and  their  friends  have  been  importunate,  and 
some  of  them  tedious.  This  bargaining  for  office  I 
heard  with  silent  indignation." 

He  could  not,  however,  always  conceal  his  contempt 
for  such  baseness ;    and  his  plain-spoken  indignation 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  409 

made  him  enemies,  who  showed  themselves  after 
wards  in  his  contest  with  the  Advocate  party  in 
1816-17.  Of  one  such  individual  he  says:  "His 
application  gave  me  pain.  He  has  been  very  atten 
tive  and  obliging  to  me ;  and  I  am  disposed  to  reward 
him  liberally ;  but  not  by  conferring  on  him  public 
office :  that  I  cannot  barter  for  personal  or  private 
favors.  It  is  a  degradation  of  which  I  am  not  capa 
ble."  One  of  his  last  official  acts  was  the  stationing 
of  a  watch  or  guard  of  thirty  men,  (May  20th)  at 
Little  Harbor,  for  the  defence  of  Portsmouth.  He 
writes,  (June  2d :) 

"  In  the  morning  I  administered  the  necessary  oaths  to  the 
members  of  the  two  Houses.  The  majorities  in  both  are 
Federal.  In  the  afternoon  I  sent  a  message  to  the  Legis 
lature,  stating  certain  measures  which  I  had  adopted  since  the 
last  session.  This  was  my  last  official  act.  I  leave  office 
without  disgust,  or  regret.  I  am  conscious  that  I  have  dis 
charged  its  duties  faithfully  and  impartially,  without  doing, 
or  omitting,  a  single  official  act  with  reference  to  a  re-election, 
or  from  any  improper  motive.  Had  my  information  and 
experience  been  the  same,  when  my  office  commenced  as 
when  it  terminated,  my  conduct,  in  a  few  things,  would  have 
been  different.  I  should  have  made  a  more  strenuous  effort 
to  have  Bell  appointed  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court ;  and 
should  not  have  consented  to  the  appointment  of  Claggett.1" 

June  4th.  "  I  left  Concord  at  five  in  the  morning,  having 
declined  an  escort,  and  reached  home  at  two  in  the  afternoon." 


410  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

This  brought  him  to  the  close  of  his  first  term,  as 
Governor  of  New  Hampshire.  The  war  with  England 
had  added  greatly  to  his  labors  and  responsibilities ; 
but  the  punctuality.,  industry,  and  method  to  which, 
in  his  own  affairs,  he  wras  accustomed,  carried  him 
cheerfully  and  safely  through.  Easy  of  access,  and 
prompt  in  action,  he  was  always  at  his  post ;  neglect 
ing  no  duty,  and  throwing  into  each  the  whole  force 
of  his  active  and  energetic  mind.  His  public  papers 
were  prepared  with  great  care,  both  as  to  the  matter 
and  the  manner ;  and  they  did  him  much  credit  with 
the  public.  Among  these,  his  proclamations  for  Fast 
and  Thanksgiving  were  characteristic  productions ; 
scarcely  less  so  than  his  speeches.  They  excited 
much  attention,  both  in  and  out  of  the  state.  In 
Massachusetts  they  were,  in  some  cases,  read  from 
the  pulpit,  by  Republican  preachers,  in  the  place  of 
those  of  Governor  Strong.  Strong,  in  one  of  his,  had 
condemned  the  war;  spoken  of  England  as  "the  bul 
wark  of  the  religion  we  profess ; "  and  prayed  that 
"  God  would  hide  us  in  his  pavillion,  until  these 
dangers  be  past."  Plumer,  on  the  contrary,  exhorted 
the  people  to  pray  to  God  "that  he  would  inspire 
them  with  patriotism  and  love  of  country ;  teach  their 
hands  to  war,  and  their  fingers  to  fight ;  turn  the  counsels 
of  their  enemies  into  foolishness  ;  and  so  unite  the  hearts 
of  all  our  people,  as  even  to  make  our  enemies  to  le  at 
peace  ivith  us."  These  proclamations,  political  rather 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  411 

than  religious,  express  truly  the  sentiments,  not  of 
their  authors  merely,  but  of  the  two  great  parties  to 
which  they  respectively  belonged. 

June  25th.  "  This  is  my  birth-clay  ;  the  last,  I  was  Gov 
ernor  of  the  state ;  to-day,  Governor  Gilman  was  escorted 
through  the  town,  within  half  a  mile  of  my  house.  How 
uncertain  is  public  life  !  How  unstable  public  opinion !  Yet 
the  reflection  costs  me  no  pain ;  nor  the  change  any  uneasi 
ness.  I  never  wanted  the  office  ;  but  yielded  to  it  as  a  duty," 

June  30th.  "  Perez  Morton,  the  Attorney-General  of 
Massachusetts,  told  me  that  Mr.  Thorndike,  an  influential 
Federalist  of  Boston,  was,  a  few  days  since,  in  company  with 
a  select  number  of  that  party,  who  declared  themselves  in 
favor  of  separating  the  New  England  States  from  the  Union. 
He  asked  them  if  that  was  their  real  object.  They  answered, 
'  Yes.'  He  then  said,  '  If  so,  I  am  decidedly  opposed  to  you. 
I  am  willing  to  pass  resolutions,  to  talk  loud,  and  thus  intimi 
date  the  government,  so  as  to  bring  them,  if  possible,  to  make 
peace  with  England ;  but  I  could  not  consent  to  a  separation, 
if  they  would  freely  grant  it.  As  a  merchant,  I  know  that 
it  would  render  New  England  poor.'  '  This,'  said  Mr.  Mor 
ton,  '  is  the  opinion  of  many  other  Federalists  of  Boston.' ' 

The  accession  of  the  Federal  party  to  power  in 
New  Hampshire  was  signalized  by  a  new  organization 
of  the  courts  of  law.  The  Judiciary  Act  of  June  24th, 
1813,  abolished  the  Superior  and  Inferior  Courts; 
turned  out  all  the  old  judges;  and  established  a 
Supreme  Court,  and  a  Circuit  Court  of  Common  Pleas 


412  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK. 

in  place  of  the  old  courts.  Of  this  new  Supreme 
Court,  Jeremiah  Smith  was  appointed  Chief  Justice, 
and  Arthur  Livermore  and  Caleb  Ellis,  Associate 
Justices.  By  the  Constitution  of  the  state,  judges 
hold  their  offices  during  good  behavior,  till  they 
reach  the  age  of  seventy  years,  subject  to  removal, 
on  impeachment  for  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  and 
by  the  Governor  and  Council  on  address  of  the  Legis 
lature.  As  the  judges,  in  this  case,  were  removed  in 
neither  of  these  modes,  the  act  was,  in  this  respect, 
clearly  unconstitutional.  Such  it  was  held  to  be  by 
the  Republicans  generally,  and  by  many  Federalists, 
including  some  of  the  first  lawyers  in  the  state.  It 
was  in  striking  contrast  with  the  Federalist  doctrine, 
as  held  throughout  the  Union,  in  the  case  of  the  Cir 
cuit  Judges  of  the  United  States,  of  whom  Smith  had 
been  one,  nor  was  it  less  inconsistent  with  their 
favorite  doctrine  of  the  independence  of  the  judi 
ciary.  Livermore,  who  held  the  first  court  under 
the  new  law,  at  Dover,  in  September,  pronounced 
it  unconstitutional,  so  far  as  it  removed  the  old 
judges  from  office ;  and  denounced,  with  great  sever 
ity,  the  legislature  by  which  it  was  passed.  Smith, 
though  he  avowed  his  opinion  less  openly,  was 
equally  decided  in  his  disapprobation  of  the  law 
by  which  twenty-one  judges  were  at  once  removed 
from  office,  in  a  way  unknown  to  the  Constitution, 
and  contrary  to  its  express  provisions.  "  A  very  bold 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  413 

step,"  lie  said,  (July  26th,)  writing  to  Judge  Farrar, 
"  has  been  taken,  in  which  I  had  no  agenc}^.  It  is  a 
step,  too,  which  I  should  not  have  advised."  To  Mason, 
he  wrote  the  same  day,  "The  General  Court  are 
most  piteously  frightened.  I  sincerely  believe  that, 
if  they  could  get  back  the  act,  they  would  see  the 
devil  have  it,  before  they  would  pass  another  such." 
He  and  Livermore,  however,  both  accepted  their 
appointments,  and  held  the  courts;  not  without 
interruption  and  protest  from  the  old  judges.  In 
the  counties  of  Stratford,  Rockingham,  and  Hills- 
borough,  the  old  judges  attempted  to  hold  courts  at 
the  same  time  with  the  new  ones.  In  the  two  latter 
counties,  the  sheriffs,  Butler  and  Pierce,  who  were 
Republicans,  took  part  with  the  old  court.  Governor 
Gilman,  on  this,  called  together  the  Legislature ;  and 
the  refractory  sheriffs  were  removed,  in  November, 
from  their  offices.  Evans  and  Claggett  held  no  more 
courts;  and  the  new  judges  met  with  no  further 
obstructions.  They  were  able  men,  and  good  judges; 
their  administration  gave  strength  to  their  party,  and 
the  courts  were  improved  by  the  change.  The  sub 
ject,  however,  of  the  new  judiciary  continued  to  oc 
cupy  the  public  attention,  and,  next  to  the  war,  was 
the  main  issue  between  the  two  parties.  This  was 
one  of  the  many  cases  in  which  Giovernor  Plumer 
adhered  to  his  old  opinions,  while  his  Federal  friends 
were  changing  theirs.  In  1813,  as  in  1802,  he  con- 


414  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

tended  that  judges,  who  held  their  offices  by  the 
tenure  of  good  behavior,  could  not  constitutionally  be 
removed  by  the  repeal  of  the  law  under  which  they 
were  appointed. 

The  pressure  of  the  war,  now  becoming  daily  more 
severe,  gave  the  Federalists  a  small  majority  in  the 
March  elections  of  1814.  Governor  Oilman  was  re- 
elected  by  a  constitutional  majority  of  but  little  more 
than  one  hundred  votes,  out  of  nearly  forty  thousand 
thrown.  The  House  and  Senate  were  also  Federal ; 
but  in  the  Council  there  were  three  Republicans  to 
one  Federalist. 

"  The  Federalists/'  wrote  Mr.  Plumcr,  "  made  my  calling 
out  the  militia  in  1812,  the  rallying  point  against  me;  and 
said  that,  if  re-elected,  I  should  persue  the  same  course  again. 
That  I  lost  votes  enough  from  this  cause  to  have  elected  me, 
is  probably  true ;  but  to  sacrifice  duty  to  personal  aggran 
dizement,  is  what  I  have  not  done,  and  never  will  do.  I  had  no 
personal  wish  to  gratify  in  being  re-elected.  I  enjoy  more 
ease  and  satisfaction  in  private,  than  I  ever  did  in  public  life." 

May  25th,  1814.  "  Governor  Oilman  has  called  out  eight 
companies  for  the  defence  of  Portsmouth.  This  excites  much 
murmuring  among  his  partizans,  who  say  that  he  has  not  only 
followed  my  example,  but  gone  greatly  beyond  me  in  the 
number  of  troops  ordered  out.  They  should  consider  that 
more  are  necessary  now  than  in  1812." 

Governor  Plumer  had  been  early  in  the  habit  of 
writing  for  the  newspapers  ;  and  the  excjted  state  of 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  415 

the  public  mind,  for  the  last  four  or  five  years,  had 
given  more  than  usual  activity  to  his  pen.  Among 
the  essays  which  he  published,  was  a  series  of  num 
bers,  in  the  winter  of  1813-14,  entitled  "An  Address 
to  the  Clergy  of  New  -England,  on  their  Opposition  to 
the  Rulers  of  the  United  States,  by  a  Layman."  The 
Congregational  clergy  of  New  England  had,  from  the 

o        o  Ot/  o 

first  settlement  of  the  country,  taken  an  active  part 
in  politics.  During  the  Revolution,  they  were  zealous 
Whigs;  under  Washington  and  Adams  they  were  Fed 
eralists,  which  they  continued  very  generally  to  be 
under  Jefferson  and  Madison.  In  New  England  their 
influence,  as  politicians,  was  much  relied  upon  by  the 
leaders  of  the  Federal  party.  Many  of  them,  besides 
their  daily  conversation  among  their  parishioners, 
made  it  a  matter  of  conscience  to  preach  political  dis 
courses  on  Fast  and  Thanksgiving  days,  and  often  on 
other  occasions.  Many  of  their  Republican  hearers  felt 
this  as  a  grievance,  the  more  offensive  to  their  feelings, 
as  there  seemed  no  remedy  for  the  evil,  but  by  with 
drawing  from  their  societies,  and  joining  the  Baptists, 
Methodists,  and  other  sectaries,  who  were  principally 
Republicans.  Some  of  them  did  this,  and  more 
threatened  to  do  so.  "  I  was  unwilling,"  says  the 
author,  "  to  undertake  this  task ;  but  the  conduct  of 
the  clergy,  and  the  state  of  the  nation  impelled  me. 
My  object  is  to  serve  my  country,  which,  I  think, 
they  are  injuring."  In  the  preface,  noticing  some 


416  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

attacks  which  had  been  made  upon  him,  he  says: 
'•I  have  only  attempted,  and  that  in  the  spirit  of 
friendship,  to  reclaim  the  clergy  from  intermeddling 
with  degrading  contentions,  about  which  they  are 
too  ignorant  to  decide,  and  with  which  they  have 
no  concern.  A  clergyman  preaching  party  politics 
merits  less  attention  than  the  meanest  of  his  hearers. 
If  he  will  wallow  in  the  mire  of  factious  opposition,  he 
cannot  expect  his  cassock  and  band  to  protect  him. 
from  the  filth  and  slander  which  he  delights  in  hand 
ling."  He  adds,  in  a  quotation  from  Burke,  "  Surely 
the  church  is  a  place  where  one  day's  truce  ought 
to  be  allowed  to  the  disputes  and  animosities  of 
mankind."  Instead  of  justifying  England,  and  con 
demning  their  own  country,  if  they  must  preach 
politics,  he  commends  to  them  the  fervent  patriotism 
of  the  Psalmist:  "If  I  forget  thee,  0,  Jerusalem, 
let  my  right  hand  forget  its  cunning.  If  I  do  not 
remember  thee,  let  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of 
my  mouth,  if  I  prefer  not  Jerusalem  above  my  chief 
joy."  Feeling  sensibly  the  injustice,  as  well  as  the 
indecorum  of  the  more  outrageous  of  the  attacks  on 
the  government,  he  pushed  too  far,  perhaps,  the 
scripture  doctrine  of  submissi6n  to  rulers,  and  the 
consequent  interdict  on  the  clergy  against  preaching 
political  discourses.  Political  questions  are  often 
moral  questions,  and  as  such  fall  clearly  within  the 
domain  of  the  pulpit.  To  discuss  these  temperately, 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  417 

in  the  spirit  of  Christian  candor,  is  not,  therefore,  to 
step  beyond  the  line  of  clerical  duty.  But  it  was  not 
with  calm  reasoning,  or  moral  suasion,  that  he  had  in 
this  case  to  deal,  but  with  rude  denunciation,  and 
even  with  false  statements.  As  against  Osgood  and 
Parish,  the  most  prominent  of  these  preachers,  he 
had  only  to  quote  their  former  discourses,  during  the 
quasi-war  with  France,  to  prove  that  they  were  as 
inconsistent  with  themselves,  as  violent  in  their 
denunciations  of  others.  It  was  in  reference  to  these 
that  he  quoted  the  text  of  Malachi:  "Ye  have 
departed  out  of  the  way,  ye  have  caused  many  to 
stumble;  therefore,  have  I  made  you  contemptible 
and  base  before  all  the  people."  The  whole  address 
was  a  concio  ad  clerum  on  the  text,  "  Thou  shalt  not 
speak  evil  of  the  ruler  of  thy  people."  Besides  the 
newspaper  circulation  of  the  address,  three  thousand 
copies  of  it  were  circulated  in  a  pamphlet  form,  and 
attracted  much  attention.  An  answer  was  attempted 
to  it,  by  Dr.  McFarland,  of  Concord;  but  it  was  in  its 
general  strain  an  attack  on  the  administration,  rather 
than  a  defence  of  the  clergy. 

The  correspondence  of  Governor  Plumer,  at  this 
period,  far  from  any  abatement  of  zeal  in  the  public 
cause,  shows  an  increased  confidence  in  the  ultimate 
success  of  the  war;  notwithstanding  the  change  of 
affairs  in  Europe,  w^hich  enabled  England,  on  the 
downfall  of  Napoleon,  to  throw,  most  unexpectedly 


27 


418  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

to  her  enemy,  the  victorious  armies  of  Wellington  on 
the  shores  of  America,  to  meet,  as  unexpectedly  to 
herself,  at  the  two  extremes  of  the  Union,  the  repulse 
by  McDonough  at  Plattsburgh,  and  the  defeat  by 
Jackson  at  New  Orleans.  To  Elbridge  Gerry,  the 
Yice-President,  he  wrote  : 

March  5th,  1814.  "I  should  prefer  a  continuance  of  the 
war  till  we  can  obtain  the  Canadas.  Our  possession  of  those 
provinces  is  the  only  real  security  which  our  northern  and 
western  frontiers  can  have  against  the  Indians,  and  the  best 
guaranty  that  England  will  keep  peace  with  us,  on  fair  terms, 
in  future,  as  it  will  render  her  West  India  dominions  depend 
ent  on  us  for  subsistence.  The  war,  even  in  New  England, 
is  daily  becoming  more  popular.  If  we  fail  in  our  elections, 
next  Tuesday,  in  this  state,  it  will  be  mainly  owing  to  the 
belief  that  a  Republican  governor  would  order  portions  of  the 
militia  into  the  service.  This  is  enough  to  turn  against  us 
many  timid  men,  who  yet  call  themselves  Republicans." 

"  We  are  told,"  he  writes  to  Mr.  Gerry,  (May  2d,)  "  that 
there  are  but  few  of  our  seamen  impressed  ;  yet,  one  fact  is 
incontrovertible :  during  the  whole  war,  we  have  not  cap 
tured  a  single  British  public  ship,  but  we  have  found  native 
American  seamen  on  board,  who  had  been  impressed,  and 
forcibly  detained,  and,  in  some  cases,  made  to  fight  against 
their  countrymen.  The  number,  then,  is  great ;  but  suppose 
it  small,  a  single  seaman,  unjustly  detained,  is  such  a  wrong 
as  would  justify  a  resort  to  arms.  Yield  one,  and  you  may  as 
well  a  thousand ;  and  there  is  no  end  to  insult  and  injuries, 
if  you  tamely  submit  to  them.  Allegiance  and  protection  are 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  419 

correlative  terms  ;  you  claim  the  one  of  your  citizens,  you  are 
bound  to  give  them  the  other. 

"  Though  the  Republicans  have  succeeded  neither  in  New 
Hampshire  nor  in  Massachusetts,  they  have  received  acces^ 
sions  of  strength  in  both  of  these  states  ;  and  in  New  York, 
they  have  obtained  a  triumph.  I  ardently  desire  an  honorable 
peace ;  but  I  hope  and  trust  the  government  will  not  be  so 
much  in  haste  to  obtain  peace,  as  to  sacrifice  any  great  advan 
tage  or  any  essential  right  of  the  country.  No  nation  can. 
long  survive  the  loss  of  honor,  or  the  sacrifice  of  its  rights." 

To  John  Adams  he  writes,  (November  25th.)? 

"You  ask  my  opinion  whether  New  Hampshire  is  pre 
pared  to  adopt  the  measures  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature. 
I  think  not.  Though  dismemberment  has  its  advocates  here, 
they  cannot  obtain  a  majority  of  the  people  or  their  repre 
sentatives  to  adopt  or  avow  it.  How  far  their  covert  proceed 
ings,  aided  by  the  imposition  of  taxes,  and  the  adoption  of 
other  measures  necessary  to  carry  on  the  war,  may  eventually 
influence  our  people  to  aid  them  in  their  projects,  time  alone 
can  disclose.  Before  Governor  Strong's  letter  reached  Gov 
ernor  Gilman,  inviting  New  Hampshire  to  send  delegates  to 
Hartford,  our  Legislature  was  adjourned  to  June.  The 
Governor  cannot  convene  them  without  the  advice  of  the 
Council ;  and,  fortunately,  a  majority  of  the  Councillors  are 
staunch  Republicans.  This  has  prevented  his  even  asking 
their  opinion  on  the  subject." 

It  appears,  however,  that  the  Governor,  at  a  later 
period,  did  consult  the  Council  on  the  subject;  that 


420  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

the  two  Federal  Councillors  advised  him  (Jan. 
25th,  1813,)  to  call  the  Legislature  together;  and 
that  the  three  Republicans  refused  to  sign  this  advice. 
This  would  have  been  too  late  to  send  delegates  to 
the  convention,  but  not  too  late  to  act  on  the  meas 
ures  which  they  recommended. 

To  Jeremiah  Mason  he  writes,  (Dec.  29,  1814.) 

"  You  ask  what  will  be  the  result  of  the  Hartford  Conven 
tion.  I  expect  no  good,  but  much  evil  from  it.  It  will 
embarrass  us,  aid  the  enemy,  and  protract  tbe  war.  Their 
prime  object  is  to  effect  a  revolution, — a  dismemberment  of 
the  Union.  Some  of  its  members,  for  more  than  ten  years, 
have  considered  such  a  measure  necessary.  Of  this  I  have 
conclusive  evidence.  I  think,  however,  they  have  too  much 
cunning,  mixed  with  fear,  to  proceed  further,  at  their  first 
meeting,  than  to  addresses,  remonstrances,  and  resolves.  But 
the  spirit  they  have  excited  in  the  minds  of  the  more  violent 
of  their  party  will  not,  I  fear,  be  satisfied  witb  mere  words, 
but  will,  should  the  war  continue,  lead  to  more  violent 


The  Massachusetts  House  of  Representatives  had, 
at  the  preceding  session,  declared  that  "  the  time  has 
arrived  at  which  it  is  incumbent  on  the  people  of 
this  state  to  decide  whether  these  burdens  [the  war 
and  embargo,  the  latter  of  which  they  pronounced 
unconstitutional,]  are  not  too  grievous  to  be  borne,  and 
to  prepare  themselves  for  the  great  duty  of  protect- 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  421 

ing,  ly  their  own  vigir,  their  unalienable  rights."  They 
now  (Oct.,  1814,)  declared  that  the  Constitution,  as  at 
present  administered,  had  "failed  to  secure  to  the 
Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  and  to  the  Eastern 
section  of  the  Union,  those  equal  rights  and  benefits, 
which  were  the  great  objects  of  its  formation."  "It 
is  vain  to  talk  about  the  Union,"  said  Mr.  Saltonstall, 
in  the  Massachusetts  Senate,  on  the  appointment  of 
delegates  to  the  Hartford  Convention,  (Oct.,  1814,) 
"  if  our  rulers  pursue  a  course  much  longer  which  is 
teaching  us  all  to  look  to  the  general  government  as 
the  cause  of  our  ruin.  Unless  an  effort  is  made,  the 
states  will  soon  as  naturally  fall  asunder  as  ripe  fruit 
is  now  falling  from  our  trees." 

The  Convention  which  met  at  Hartford,  Dec.  15th? 
1814,  consisted  of  delegates  appointed  by  the  Legis 
latures  of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  Rhode 
Island,  and  of  members  appointed  by  two  County 
Conventions  in  New  Hampshire  and  one  in  Vermont. 
Its  proceedings  were  conducted  with  closed  doors; 
and  among  its  rules  was  one  "that  the  most  inviolate 
secrecy  shall  be  observed  by  every  member  of  this 
Convention,  including  the  Secretary,  as  to  all  the 
propositions,  debates  and  proceedings  thereof."  This 
injunction  was  removed  at  the  close  of  the  session,  so 
far  only  "as  relates  to  the  report  finally  adopted." 
This  report,  which  was  made  to  the  State  Legislatures 


422  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

by  which  the  members  were  appointed,  was  approved 
and  published  by  them.  In  it  the  question  of  dis 
solving  the  Union  was  discussed  at  some  length. 
"To  prescribe  patience  and  firmness  to  those  who  are 
already  exhausted  by  distress,  is  sometimes,"  they 
say,  "to  drive  them  to  despair;  and  the  progress 
towards  reform  by  the  regular  road  is  irksome  to  those 
whose  imaginations  discern,  and  their  feelings  prompt 
to  a  shorter  course"  This  shorter  course  is  direct  and 
open  violence.  "  A  sentiment  prevails  to  no  incon 
siderable  extent,  that  the  time  for  a  change  is  at 
hand.  Those  who  so  believe,  regard  the  evils  which 
surround  them  as  intrinsic  and  incurable  defects  in  the 
Constitution.  They  yield  to  the  persuasion  that  no 
change,  at  any  time,  or  on  any  occasion,  can  aggravate 
the  misery  of  their  country.  This  opinion  may  ulti 
mately  prove  to  be  correct."  "  But  as  the  evidence  on 
which  it  rests  is,"  they  say, "  not  yet  conclusive,"  they 
recommend,  for  the  present,  the  adoption  of  a  more 
moderate  course,  which,  if  it  does  not  avert  the  evil, 
will,  "  at  least,  secure  consolation  and  success  in  the 
last  resort,"  "  If,"  they  add,  "  the  Union  be  destined 
to  dissolution,  it  should,  if  possible,  be  the  work  of 
peaceable  times,  and  deliberate  consent.  Events  may 
prove  that  the  causes  of  our  calamities  are  deep  and 
permanent.  Whenever  it  shall  appear  that  these 
causes  are  radical  and  permanent,  a  separation,  by 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  423 

equitable  arrangement,  will  be  preferable  to  an 
alliance  by  constraint,  among  nominal  friends,  but 
real  enemies."  They  refer  to  Washington's  farewell 
address,  and  conclude  from  all  these  premises — not 
against  dissolving  the  Union  under  any  circumstances 
—but  against  "precipitate  measures,"  since  "a  sever 
ance  of  the  Union,  by  one  or  more  states,  against  the 
will  of  the  rest,  and  especially  in  time  of  war,  can  be 
justified  only  by  absolute  necessity,"  which  necessity, 
they  argue,  does  not  now  exist.  In  the  mean  time, 
after  pronouncing  certain  measures  then  before  Con 
gress  to  be  unconstitutional,  the  report  adds:  "In 
cases  of  deliberate,  dangerous,  and  palpable  infractions 
of  the  Constitution,  affecting  the  sovereignty  of  a 
state  and  the  liberties  of  the  people,  it  is  not  only  the 
right,  but  the  duty  of  such  a  state  to  interpose  its 
authority  for  their  protection,  in  the  manner  best 
calculated  to  secure  that  end.  When  emergencies 
occur,  which  are  either  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
judicial  tribunals,  or  too  pressing  to  admit  of  the 
delay  incident  to  their  forms,  states,  which  have  no 
common  umpire,  must  be  their  own  judges,  and  exe 
cute  their  own  decision."  This  is,  in  its  strongest 
form,  the  Virginia  and  South  Carolina  doctrine  of 
nullification.  "If,"  they  say,  "a  different  policy  from 
the  present  should  prevail,  our  nation  may  yet  be 
great,  our  union  durable.  But  should  this  prospect 


424  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK. 

be  utterly  hopeless,  the  time  will  not  have  been  lost, 
which  shall  have  ripened   a  general  sentiment   of  the 
necessity  of  more  mighty  efforts  to  rescue  from  ruin 
at  least  some  portion  of  our  beloved  country."     They 
then  recommend,  as  their  more  moderate  course,  an 
application  to  Congress  by  the  New  England  States, 
to  enable  them  to  assume  their  own  defence,  and  for 
that  purpose,  that  they  may  receive  into  their  own 
treasuries  a  portion  of  the  United  States'  revenue  col 
lected  within  their  limits.     They  also  propose  seven 
amendments  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States; 
the  first,  abolishing   the  slave  representation ;    the 
second,  providing  that  no  new  state  shall  be  admitted 
into  the  Union  without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds 
of  both  Houses  of  Congress;  the  third,  that  no  embargo 
shall  be  laid  for  more  than  sixty  days  ;  the  fourth,  that 
no  non-intercourse  law  be  passed  but  by  a  two-thirds' 
vote ;  the  fifth,  no  war  declared  but  by  the  same  vote ; 
the  sixth, no  naturalized  citizen  to  hold  any  civil  office; 
and  the  seventh,  that  no  President  be  elected  a  second 
time,  and  no  state  furnish  two  Presidents  in  succession. 
Such   were,   in   substance,   the    proceedings   of  the 
Hartford  -Convention,   which    closed  its   session   by 
providing  for  a  new  Convention  to  meet  in  Boston, 
in  June,  in  case   the  war  should  continue,  or  for  the 
old  one  to  meet  sooner,  if  the  committee  appointed 
for  that  purpose  should  see  fit  to  convene  it. 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  425 

The  Treaty  of  Ghent  not  only  brought  peace  with 
England,  but  put  an  end  to  nearly  all  the  recent 
causes  of  party  differences  in  this  country.  Impress 
ment,  claimed  as  a  belligerent  right,  ceased  with  the 
European  wars ;  French  decrees  and  British  orders 
in  Council  had  the  same  termination ;  and  the  non- 
intercourse,  embargo,  and  war  in  America,  which  had 
grown  out  of  these,  expired  with  their  causes.  There 
were,  therefore,  no  longer  the  old  grounds  of  quarrel 
between  the  two  parties ;  and  that  which  underlay 
them  all,  the  charge  of  foreign  influence,  ceased 
thenceforth  to  have  any  foundation  on  either  side. 
The  Federalists  had  charged  the  Republicans  with 
being  under  French  influence  ;  and  the  Republicans 
retorted  the  charge,  by  imputing  their  conduct  to 
British  influence.  Both  these  charges  were,  to  a  cer 
tain  extent,  true.  Not  that  French  or  British  gold 
was  employed  to  make  partizans  here,  for  either  of 
those  nations,  though  something  may  perhaps  have 
been  paid  for  the  support  of  party  newspapers ;  but 
the  popular  feeling  itself  had  fallen  into  a  semi- 
Colonial  dependence  on  Europe.  Sympathy  with 
England  and  abhorrence  of  France  were  motives 
powerful  with  the  one  party ;  and  attachment  to 
France,  admiration  of  Napoleon,  and  hatred  to  Eng 
land,  were  hardly  less  powerful  in  the  other.  "Every 
Frenchman,"  said  Governeur  Morris,  "bears  with  him 
everywhere  a  French  heart.  I  honor  him  for  it.  0 ! 


426  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

that  Americans  had  always  an  American  heart ! " 
"  All  will  end  without  any  shedding  of  blood,"  said 
Washington,  "if,  instead  of  being  Frenchmen  or  Eng 
lishmen  in  politics,  our  citizens  would  be  Americans." 
It  was  not  till  after  the  war  of  1812,  that  a  truly 
American  feeling,  superior  to  all  foreign  attachments, 
obtained  the  entire  ascendancy  in  our  national 
councils. 

The  Federal  party,  as  a  national  organization,  may 
be  considered  as  having  expired  with  the  war.  Pat 
riotic  in  its  original  purposes,  and  wise  in  its  early 
measures,  it  was  never  a  popular  party ;  and  when, 
after  its  final  loss  of  power,  in  1801,  it  fell  insensibly 
into  the  ordinary  vices  of  an  opposition,  it  lost,  by 
degrees,  its  nationality  of  character,  became  sectional 
in  its  objects,  and,  ultimately,  during  the  war,  to  a 
considerable  extent,  anti-national  in  its  admiration  of 
England,  its  dread  of  France,  and  its  abhorrence  of 
the  war  and  its  authors.  Fisher  Ames  had  at  an 
earlier  period  expressed,  in  one  brief  but  pregnant 
sentence,  the  opinions  in  which  many  of  them 
indulged.  "  Our  country  is  too  big**for  union,  too 
sordid  for  patriotism,  and  too  democratic  for  liberty." 
Southern  Federalists  ceased  to  feel  their  former  unity 
of  purpose  with  those  of  the  north ;  local  jealousies 
were  engendered,  local  objects  pursued ;  and  the 
final  explosion  of  these  angry  feelings,  in  the  impo 
tence  of  the  Hartford  Convention,  brought  such 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  427 

general  odium  on  the  expiring  efforts  of  Northern 
Federalism,  that  men,  who  had  once  borne  it  with 
pride,  grewr,  at  last,  ashamed  of  a  name  wrhich,  in 
its  earlier  use,  was  illustrated  by  the  wisdom  and  the 
virtue  of  Washington  and  Adams,  of  Hamilton,  Jay, 
and  a  host  of  other  revolutionary  worthies.  What 
was  good  in  the  principles  of  the  party  had  been,  to 
a  great  extent,  adopted  by  the  Republicans;  and 
the  evil  of  its  original  views  had  been  sufficiently 
exposed. 

But  if  the  Federal  party  expired  with  the  war,  the 
Republican  had,  at  the  same  time,  well  nigh  lost  its 
original  identity.  It  had  gradually  eliminated  some 
of  its  worst  errors,  both  of  theory  and  practice,  and 
as  gradually  absorbed  into  itself  much  of  what  was 
best  in  the  policy  of  its  opponents. 

"The  era  of  good  feeling,"  which  commenced  with 
Mr,  Monroe's  administration,  led  to  a  speedy  oblivion 
of  old  feuds ;  and,  for  the  eight  years  which  followed, 
it  was  not  easy,  by  anything  which  any  man  said  or 
did,  to  determine  to  which  of  the  old  parties  he 
belonged,  or  ^hether,  indeed,  there  was,  at  that  time, 
any  party  in  tl|e  country.  When,  at  a  later  period, 
parties  once  more  emerged  from  the  quiet  of  Monroe, 
into  the  turbulence  which  ensued  under  Adams  and 
Jackson,  many  of  the  old  Federal  leaders  were  found 
to  be  Democrats,  and  as  many  old  Republicans  took 
rank  as  Whigs.  The  division  turned  mainly  on  new 


428  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

issues,  and  on  interests  little  felt  in  the  earlier  days 
of  the  Republic.  The  funding  system,  the  army,  and 
the  navy,  had  lost  their  interest  in  the  questions  of 
the  tariff  and  internal  improvement,  and  in  the  first 
stirrings  of  that  yet  deeper  and  more  important 
question  of  the  extension  or  the  restriction  of 
slavery. 

Mr.  Plumer  early  saw  the  change  of  parties  which 
this  change  in  the  affairs  of  the  country  was  about  to 
produce,  and  felt  it  his  duty  to  accelerate,  as  far  as 
in  him  lay,  the  oblivion  of  past  controversies,  and  to 
aid  in  the  introduction  of  a  policy  more  liberal  and 
more  comprehensive,  in  relation  both  to  men  and  to 
measures.  While  party  feelings  had  degenerated 
with  many  into  personal  animosities,  he  had  kept  up 
his  social  relations  with  his  old  Federalist  friends,  both 
by  correspondence  and  by  personal  intercourse.  lie 
knew  the  good  men  of  both  parties,  and  the  good 
points  in  both  their  creeds ;  and  his  aim  was  to  bring 
them  together  in  combined  action  for  the  public  good. 
The  old  party  feelings  were,  however,  still  strong  on 
both  sides ;  the  Federalists  exasperated  by  defeat, 
the  Republicans  warm  with  the  excitement  of  recent 
strife.  The  heat  of  the  contest  had,  indeed,  as  yet, 
very  little  abated.  The  antagonist  muscles  required 
time  to  soften  and  relax  from  the  extreme  tension  of 
earnest  and  long-continued  action.  This  relaxation 
did  not  come  in  season  for  the  March  elections  in 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  429 

New  Hampshire  ;  and  Governor  Oilman  was  accord 
ingly  re-elected.  So  doubtful,  however,  was  the 
contest,  that,  counting  all  the  votes  thrown,  his 
majority  was  found  to  be  only  thirty-five.  It  was 
his  last  year.  During  the  whole  period  from  1812  to 
1817,  neither  party  was  strong  enough  to  feel  confi 
dent  of  victory,  and  neither  so  weak  as  to  despair  of 
success. 


CHAPTER     XI. 

THE   CHIEF   MAGISTRATE.— (CONTINUED.) 

I  FIND  little  among  Mr  Plumer's  papers  in  the  year 
following  the  peace,  which  need  be  here  introduced. 
Two  extracts  from  his  journal  may  be  given,  as 
touching  upon  subjects  either  already  noticed  here, 
or  which  will  come  up  at  a  later  period. 

September  16th,  1815.  "  On  the  7th  instant,  I  set  out  with 
my  wife  on  a  visit  to  our  friends  in  Massachusetts,  and  to-day 
returned  home.  My  visit  to  Newburyport,  where  I  was 
born,  and  to  Newbury  Old  Town,  the  original  seat  of  the 
Plumer  family,  was  productive,  in  my  mind,  of  many  inter 
esting  remembrances  and  reflections.  In  this  ten  days'  excur 
sion,  I  have  been  everywhere  treated  with  great  respect  and 
attention ;  but  the  journey,  and  my  long  and  frequent 
conversations,  fatigued  me.  At  Salem,  I  spent  an  afternoon 
with  Joseph  Story,  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States,  lie  said,  the  judges  of  that  court  bad 
informally  considered  tbe  question  whether  the  Governor  of 
a  state  was  bound,  on  the  requisition  of  the  President,  to 
order  the  militia  into  the  service  of  the  United  States.  He 
could,  he  said,  discover  no  diversity  of  sentiment  among  them  ; 
he  believed  they  were  unanimously  of  opinion  that  the  Gov 
ernors  were  bound  to  obey  the  requisition ;  and  regretted  that 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  431 

neither  the  President  nor  Congress  had  required  their  opinion 
on  the  subject.  He  complimented  me  on  my  speech  to  the 
Legislature  in  November,  1812,  upon  the  question  of  ordering 
out  the  militia ;  and  said  that  my  reasoning  appeared  to  him 
conclusive.  He  mentioned,  of  his  own  accord,  that  he  had 
considered  the  law  of  New  Hampshire,  of  1813,  establish 
ing  the  new  judiciary,  and  was  of  opinion  that  it  was 
unconstitutional. " 

September  30th,  1815.  "I  spent  an  hour  in  social,  free 
conversation  with  Governor  Oilman.  He  condemned,  with 
great  frankness,  the  removal  of  John  Wheelock  from  the 
Presidency  of  Dartmouth  College.  He  said  it  was  injudici 
ous  and  improper." 

This  removal  of  Wheelock  brought  the  affairs  of 
the  college  before  the  Legislature,  and  led  to  a  vigor 
ous,  but  finally  unsuccessful  attempt  to  remodel  and 
improve  that  important  institution. 

The  spring  elections  of  1816  resulted  in  the  entire 
success  of  the  Republican  party  in  New  Hampshire. 
Governor  Oilman,  from  the  increasing  infirmities  of 
age,  and,  probably,  from  a  conviction  that  he  could 
not  again  be  elected,  declined  being  a  candidate.  His 
place  was  supplied  by  James  Sheafe, — a  respectable 
merchant  of  Portsmouth,  probably,  at  that  time,  the 
richest  man  in  the  state.  He  had  been  imprisoned  as 
a  Tory,  during  the  revolution;  but,  like  many  other 
honest  loyalists,  he  had  found  this  circumstance  not 
incompatible  with  the  possession,  at  a  later  period,  of 


432  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

the  public  favor.  The  people,  though  zealous  in  the 
cause  of  independence,  were  not  vindictive  or  intol 
erant  in  their  feelings ;  and  when  the  danger  was 
past,  they  looked  to  men's  present  conduct,  rather 
than  to  their  former  opinions  on  a  subject  respecting 
which  men  might  fairly  differ.  Sheafs  had  been 
elected  Senator  in  Congress,  in  1802,  but  had  held  his 
seat  only  one  session.  His  opposition  to  the  war  of 
1812  was  now  urged  against  him,  as  a  proof  that  the 
Tory  of  the  revolution  was  still  the  devoted  partizan 
of  the  mother  country.  It  was,  perhaps,  as  an  offset 
to  this  charge  of  toryism  in  Sheaf e,  that  the  story 
was  told  respecting  Governor  Plumer's  being  arrested 
for  the  same  offence,  during  the  revolution,  as  related 
in  a  former  chapter.  This  story  was  at  once  contra 
dicted ;  and  the  facts  respecting  Sheafe,  though 
known,  probably  deprived  him  of  very  few  votes. 
Of  the  whole  number  thrown,  he  had  18,326,  and 
Mr.  Plumer  20,652.  This  was  the  largest  popular 
vote  ever  thrown  in  the  state.  It  is  curious  to 
observe  the  increasing  interest  taken  in  politics  by 
the  mass  of  the  people,  as  shown  by  the  yearly 
increase  of  the  votes.  In  1790,  the  whole  number 
thrown  for  chief  magistrate  was  in  the  proportion 
of  one  vote  to  seventeen  of  the  inhabitants ;  in 
1800,  one  to  eleven;  in  1810,  one  to  seven;  and 
in  1816,  one  to  less  than  six.  This  augurs  well  of 
the  people,  as  it  shows  an  increasing  interest  in 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK.  433 

their  own  affairs,  and  a  determination  not  to  lose 
their  rights  by  a  neglect  of  the  elective  franchise. 
When  the  result  of  the  election  was  known,  the 
Governor  received  many  congratulations  from  his 
correspondents  on  his  success;  and  among  others, 
March  22d,  1816,  the  following  from  Richard  Rush, 
then  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States,  after 
wards  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  Minister  to 
England : 

"I  beg  leave  to  offer  to  you  my  cordial  congratulations 
upon  the  happy  issue  of  the  election  in  New  Hampshire.  May 
the  great  cause  of  Republicanism  go  on  thus  to  triumph  in  the 
states  about  you.  May  Massachusetts  be  so  fortunate,  in  her 
turn,  as  to  get  her  Dexter ;  thereby  serving  more  and  more  to 
disappoint  all  the  efforts  and  the  hopes  of  those  who  know  not 
how  to  value  our  noble  institutions." 

This  aspiration  respecting  Dexter  was  not  answered, 
as  he  died,  May  4th,  1816,  soon  after  it  was  made. 

April  17th,  1816.  "  Spent  the  day  at  Portsmouth ;  received 
much  attention  from  men  of  both  parties.  My  rival,  James 
Sheafe,  took  an  early  opportunity  of  calling  upon  me  at  my 
lodgings,  and  politely  urged  me  to  dine  with  him  ;  but  my 
engagements  prevented  me." 

It  may  be  here  added,  that  he  kept  up,  during  life, 
a  friendly  intercourse  with  many  worthy  men  who 
were  his  political  opponents ;  and  that  his  personal 
respect  for  them  was  never  impaired  by  the  warmth 


28 


434  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

of  these  party  contests.  lie  wielded  boldly  and 
unsparingly  against  them  all  the  weapons  of  political 
warfare ;  but  it  was  without  malice  or  personal  ill-will. 

May  18th,  1816.  "I  have  heen  requested  to  be  a  candi 
date  for  Senator  in  Congress,  but  have  refused.  I  want  no 
office  whatever ;  but  if  I  am  to  be  in  the  public  service,  I 
prefer  that  of  Governor." 

June  4th.  "  Perceiving,  from  the  applications  made  to  me 
by  gentlemen  from  various  towns,  as  to  when  I  should  set  out 
for  Concord,  that  measures  were  preparing  for  a  numerous 
escort,  I  resolved  to  proceed  thither  without  waiting  to  be 
officially  informed  of  my  election.  Early  in  the  afternoon  I 
arrived  at  Concord." 

5th.  tf  Spent  the  day  at  my  lodgings,  without  making  any 
visits,  except  one  of  ceremony  to  Governor  Gilman,  whom  I 
found  afflicted  with  the  gout.  He  received  me  with  polite 
ness,  and  appeared  in  good  spirits.  The  calls  upon  me  were 
many  ;  and  among  others  was  one  from  the  Reverend  Dr. 
Parish.  The  moment  his  name  was  announced,  my  writing 
the  '  Layman '  occurred  to  my  recollection.  His  attachment 
to  President  Wheelock,  and  his  belief  of  my  aiding  Dartmouth 
College,  gave  him  pleasure  in  visiting  me,  though  he  knew  I 
had  zealously  supported  the  late  war,  to  which  he  was  out 
rageously  opposed.  On  telling  him  that  my  health  was  good 
for  one  of  my  slender  constitution,  he  replied,  with  an  empha 
sis,  '  In  that  we  harmonize.'  He  is  man  of  strong  passions, 
governed  by  feeling  more  than  reason." 

6th.  "  At  twelve  o'clock,  I  met  the  two  Houses,  in  the 
Representatives'  Hall,  and  found  the  galleries  and  avenues 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  435 

crowded.  After  I  had  taken  the  affirmation  of  office,  I 
delivered  my  speech,  which  occupied  about  twenty  minutes. 
After  dinner.,  Dr.  Parish  spent  two  hours  with  me  very 
pleasantly.'.' 

Parish  was  warmly  interested  in  behalf  of  Dr. 
Wheelock,  and  wrote  afterwards  to  Judge  Woodward : 
"  We  rejoice,  we  exult,  in  the  firmness,  constancy  and 
success  of  Governor  Plumer,  to  whom  I  pray  you  to 
give  my  thanks  for  the  noble  part  he  has  taken  in 
defence  of  our  venerable  friend." 

Among  the  subjects  recommended  by  the  Gov 
ernor  to  the  attention  of  the  Legislature  were  the 
encouragement  of  manufactures  by  exempting  them, 
for  a  limited  period,  from  taxes;  the  districting  of 
the  state  for  the  choice  of  electors  and  members  of 
Congress ;  the  reduction  of  salaries ;  and  the  subject 
of  jury  trials.  The  first  of  these  recommendations 
was  adopted,  and  had  the  effect,  with  other  liberal 
provisions  of  the  laws,  to  draw  much  foreign  capital 
into  the  state,  greatly  to  the  benefit  of  its  industry, 
wealth,  and  population.  The  districting  recommended 
by  him  has  since  been  adopted,  as  to  members  of 
Congress,  but  not  as  to  electors.  The  reduction  of 
salaries  was  a  more  popular  measure  ;  and  the  rare 
example  of  a  Governor  recommending  the  reduction 
of  his  own  salary,  was  sure  to  find  favor  with  the 
Legislature.  He  had  attempted  the  same  reduction, 


436  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

without  success,  in  1797;  and,  now  that  it  affected 
his  own  remuneration,  he  was  not  less  disposed  to 
urge  it.  Writing  to  John  Quincy  Adams,  (July  30th,) 
he  said :  "  The  great  anxiety  that  too  many  of  our 
countrymen  discover  for  office,  as  the  means  of 
acquiring  money — a  motive  too  sordid  to  exist  with, 
much  less  to  cherish,  patriotism — induced  me  to 
recommend  a  system  of  economy  in  relation  to 
salaries.  It  was  a  feeble  effort  to  inspire  the  people 
with  more  noble  motives  and  more  exalted  views, 
than  pecuniary  rewards  produce;  to  allure  them  with 
the  love  of  fame  and  of  the  public  good."  His  ideas  on 
this  subject  were  well  responded  to  in  a  letter,  which 
he  afterwards  received  from  Mr.  Adams,  (July  6th, 
1818.)  "I  am  convinced,"  says  Mr.  Adams,  "that 
it  is  just  and  patriotic  to  make  all  offices  of  high 
trust  and  honor  rather  burdensome  than  lucrative. 
Real  patriotism  will  cheerfully  bear  some  pecuniary 
sacrifice ;  and  the  appetite  of  ambition  for  place  is 
sufficiently  sharp-set,  without  needing  the  stimulant 
dram  of  avarice  to  make  it  keener." 

With  respect  to  trials  by  jury,  there  had,  in  his 
opinion,  been  too  great  a  disposition,  of  late,  in  the 
courts  to  set  aside  verdicts,  and  thus  to  arrogate  too 
much  authority  in  the  trial  of  cases ;  but  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  the  limitation  he  recommended  of 
the  power  of  the  court  to  set  aside  verdicts,  to  cases  of 
bribery  or  corruption,  would  contribute  to  the  stabil- 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  437 

ity  or  the  uniformity  of  the  law,  by  making  it  depend 
practically  for  its  rules  of  action  on  the  feelings  or 
the  opinions  of  jurors,  instead  of  the  knowledge  and 
experience  of  the  judges.  No  law  was  passed  on  the 
subject. 

The  Governor's  care  for  the  rights  of  conscience 
and  of  private  judgment  in  matters  of  religion,  was 
evinced  by  his  recommendation  to  grant  acts  of 
incorporation  to  religious  societies,  in  all  cases,  and 
to  all  sects  who  applied  for  them. 

But  the  two  most  important  topics  of  the  Gov 
ernor's  speech  were  those  relating  to  Dartmouth 
College,  and  to  the  judiciary  acts  of  1813.  The 
latter  were  considered  by  the  Republicans  as  un 
constitutional,  and,  as  such,  to  be  repealed  without 
delay.  This  repeal  passed,  by  a  strictly  party  vote, 
in  the  House,  yeas  97,  nays  83 ;  in  the  Senate,  yeas 
8,  nays  4.  It  was  signed  by  the  Governor,  June 
27,  1816.  Several  important  questions  were  at  once 
raised  by  this  act.  The  first  was  as  to  the  effect  of 
the  repeal  on  the  judges  of  the  courts  so  abolished. 
By  some,  it  was  contended  that,  the  law  under  which 
they  acted  being  unconstitutional,  they  were,  from 
the  beginning,  usurpers,  and  that  no  action  need  be 
had  in  relation  to  them.  But  the  safer  opinion  seemed 
to  be  that,  being  judges  de  facto,  if  not  de  jure,  they 
were  "entitled  to  the  same  rights,  immunities  and 
privileges  in  their  office  as  other  judges ; "  and,  there- 


438  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

fore,  that,  if  they  were  removed,  it  must  be  under  the 
constitutional  provision,  on  address  of  the  Legisla 
ture,  by  the  Governor  and  Council.  This  was  accord 
ingly  done.  The  next  question  was  as  to  the  judges 
of  the  old  courts;  and  it  was  thought  advisable  to 
remove  them  also.  When  this  was  done,  the  state 
presented  the  singular  spectacle  of  a  Commonwealth 
without  judges.  The  next  step  proposed  was  the  turn 
ing  out  of  the  Federalist  sheriffs,  appointed  on  the 
removal  of  Messrs.  Pierce  and  Butler.  An  address  to 
that  effect  passed  the  Senate,  but  was  postponed  in 
the  House,  on  an  intimation  of  the  Governor  that 
the  measure  would  be,  in  his  opinion,  illegal. 

The  law  respecting  Dartmouth  College  grew  out  of 
difficulties  between  the  Trustees  of  that  institution 
and  its  President,  John  Wheelock,  whicli  had  resulted 
in  his  removal  from  office.  The  subject  was  noticed 
in  the  speech  of  the  Governor,  who,  after  referring  to 
what  he  regarded  as  defects  in  the  charter  of  the 
college,  recommended  to  the  Legislature  to  "make 
such  further  provisions  as  will  render  this  important 
institution  more  useful  to  mankind."  The  act  passed, 
June  27th,  1816,  in  pursuance  of  this  recommenda 
tion,  changed  the  name  of  the  institution  from  College 
to  University ;  increased  the  number  of  the  Trustees 
from  twelve  to  twenty-one ;  and  created  a  board  of 
Overseers,  consisting  of  twenty-five  members.  These 
latter  were  to  be  appointed  by  the  Governor  and 


LIFE     OF    WILLIAM     PLUMER.  439 

Council ;  as  were  also,  in  the  first  instance,  the  new 
Trustees.  "My  object/'  said  the  Governor," is  not  lim 
ited  to  the  restoration  of  Wheelock.  It  is  to  establish 
the  authority  of  the  Legislature  over  the  institution,  so 
far  as  to  secure  to  the  people  the  objects  for  which  it 
was  founded,  and  to  form  a  useful  connection  between 
the  government  and  the  college."  In  the  appoint 
ment  of  Trustees  and  Overseers  he  introduced  men  of 
both  political  parties,  and  of  all  the  prominent  relig 
ious  sects.  The  college  government  had  been  hitherto 
Calvinistic  in  its  religion,  and  Federalist  in  its  politics. 
His  appointments  brought  both  political  parties  into 
each  board,  without  giving  any  one  religious  sect  the 
preponderance  in  either.  Dr.  Parish  having  written 
to  him,  expressing  the  hope  that  a  man's  being  a 
Federalist  would  not  prevent  his  being  elected  an 
officer  of  the  institution,  he  said,  in  reply,  "It  has 
been  a  subject  of  deep  regret  to  me  that  the  cause  of 
Dartmouth  University  has  been  considered  a  party 
question.  My  political  opponents  made  it  such,  in 
hopes  of  obtaining  support  to  their  party  politics. 
But,  had  I  the  power  of  appointing  the  officers  of  the 
University,  I  would  select  those  men  only  for  office 
who  are  best  qualified,  without  regard  to  the  religious 
sect  or  political  party  to  which  they  are  attached." 
The  act  itself  provided  that  perfect  freedom  of  relig 
ious  opinions  should  be  enjoyed  by  all  the  officers  and 
students  of  the  University-  and  that  no  officer  or 


440  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

student  should  be  deprived  of  any  honors,  privileges, 
or  benefits  of  the  institution,  on  account  of  his  religious 
creed  or  belief.  It  was  an  essential  part  of  his  plan 
that  the  state  should  extend  a  liberal  patronage  to 
the  University,  and  make  it,  what  it  had  never  yet 
been,  a  well-endowed  institution.  Into  the  private 
feuds  of  Hanover,  or  the  quarrel  between  Wheelock 
and  the  old  Trustees,  he  felt  no  disposition  to  enter ; 
but  the  occasion  seemed  to  him  a  fit  one,  to  give  to 
the  college  a  less  sectarian  character,  and  to  plant  it 
firmly  on  the  broad  ground  of  Christian  liberality, 
sound  learning,  and  Republican  polity. 

The  following  letter  from  Mr.  Jefferson  was  in 
acknowledgment  of  a  copy  of  the  Message,  contain 
ing  the  above-named  recommendations. 

"MoNTicELLo,  July  2 1st,  1816. 

"  I  thank  you,  sir,  for  the  copy  you  have  been  so  good  as 
to  send  me  of  your  late  speech  to  the  Legislature  of  your 
state,  which  I  have  read  a  second  time  with  great  pleasure, 
as  I  had  before  done  in  the  public  papers.  It  is  replete  with 
sound  principles,  and  truly  Republican.  Some  articles,  too, 
are  worthy  of  notice.  The  idea  that  institutions,  established 
for  the  use  of  the  nation,  cannot  be  touched  nor  modified, 
even  to  make  them  answer  their  end,  because  of  rights  gratu 
itously  supposed  in  those  employed  to  manage  them  in  trust 
for  the  public,  may,  perhaps,  be  a  salutary  provision  against 
the  abuses  of  a  monarch,  but  it  is  most  absurd  against  the 
nation  itself.  Yet  our  lawyers  and  priests  generally  incul- 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK.  441 

cate  this  doctrine  ;  and  suppose  that  preceding  generations 
held  the  earth  more  freely  than  we  do ;  had  a  right  to  impose 
laws  on  us,  unalterable  by  ourselves ;  and  that  we,  in  like 
manner,  can  make  laws,  and  impose  burdens  on  future  gen 
erations,  which  they  will  have  no  right  to  alter ;  in  fine, 
that  the  earth  belongs  to  the  dead,  and  not  to  the  living.  I 
remark,  also,  the  phenomenon  of  a  chief  magistrate  recom 
mending  the  reduction  of  his  own  compensation.  This  is  a 
solecism  of  which  the  wisdom  of  our  late  Congress  cannot  be 
accused.  I,  however,  place  economy  among  the  first  and  most 
important  of  Republican  virtues,  and  public  debt  as  the  great 
est  of  the  dangers  to  be  feared.  We  see  in  England  the  con 
sequences  of  the  want  of  it, — their  laborers  reduced  to  live  on 
a  penny  in  the  shilling  of  their  earnings,  to  give  up  bread, 
and  resort  to  oatmeal  and  potatoes  for  food ;  and  their  land 
holders  exiling  themselves  to  live  in  penury  and  obscurity 
abroad,  because  at  home  the  government  must  have  all  the 
clear  profits  of  their  land.  In  fact,  they  see  the  fee-simple  of 
the  island  transferred  to  the  public  creditors,  and  all  its 
profits  going  to  them  for  the  interest  of  their  debts.  Our 
laborers  and  landholders  must  come  to  this  also,  unless  they 
severely  adhere  to  the  economy  you  recommend.  I  salute 
you  with  entire  esteem  and  respect. 

"  THOMAS  JEFFERSON." 

On  the  adjournment  of  the  Legislature,  the  Gover 
nor  and  Council  proceeded  to  appoint  the  Judges  of 
the  Superior  Court  and  Common  Pleas.  It  had  been 
easy  to  turn  out  the  old  judges,  but  it  was  not  found 
so  easy  to  appoint  new  ones  in  their  places.  The 


442  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

removed  judges  were  Federalists;  and  the  Republican 
Councillors,  flushed  with  their  recent  party  victory, 
felt  called  upon  to  retaliate  on  the  intolerance  of 
their  opponents,  by  appointing  none  but  Republicans 
to  office.  But  the  Governor  told  them,  at  their  first 
meeting,  that  the  minority  had  rights,  which  it 
became  him  to  respect,  however  little  others  had 
done  so ;  and  that  he  could  not  consent  to  have  all 
the  judges  selected  from  one  political  party. 

July  1st,  1816.  "Early  in  the  morning,  I  met  the  Coun 
cil  ;  and,  after  spending  some  time  in  talking  upon  the  sub 
ject  of  appointments,  we  proceeded  to  make  nominations  of 
Judges  of  the  Superior  Court.  I  named  Jeremiah  Mason, 
William  M.  Richardson,  and  Samuel  Bell.  The  Council 
unanimously  agreed  to  nominate  Richardson.  The  Republi 
cans  nominated  Bell ;  but  the  Federalists  opposed  him  on 
account  of  his  conduct  as  President  of  the  Hillsborough 
Bank.  A  majority  declined  nominating  Mason.  I  then 
proposed  George  B.  Upham,  a  Federalist,  a  good  lawyer,  and 
a  man  of  an  irreproachable  moral  character.  The  two  Fed 
eral  Councillors  zealously  supported,  and  the  three  Republi 
cans  as  decidedly  opposed  him.  We  then  endeavored  to  fix 
upon  a  Chief  Justice  for  the  Eastern  District.  Clifton  Clag- 
gett  and  Daniel  M.  Durell  were  named.  The  question 
being  taken  on  nominating  Claggett,  two  of  the  Council  were 
for  him,  and  three  against  him.  A  majority  could  not  be 
obtained  for  Durell,  or  any  other  man.  William  H.  Wood 
ward  was  unanimously  agreed  upon  as  Chief  Justice  of  the 
Western  District." 


LIFE     OP     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  443 

i 

£d.  "  Met  the  Council  early  in  the  morning  ;  urged  the 
nomination  of  Upham ;  but  the  Republican  Councillors  de 
clined  agreeing  to  him.  We  .then  conversed  on  a  candidate 
for  Chief  Justice  of  the  Common  Pleas  for  the  First  Dis 
trict  ;  and  it  was  agreed  to  nominate  Durell.  A  majority 
of  the  Council  finally  agreed  to  nominate  Upham  for  the 
Superior  Court.  We  then  signed  the  nomination  of  all  the 
seventeen  judges,  the  number  necessary  to  be  appointed. 
Some  of  them  were  not  such  as  I  should  have  nominated,  if 
I  had  possessed  the  sole  power  of  appointment ;  but  they 
were  the  best  I  could  induce  the  Council  to  agree  to." 

3d.  "  A  majority  of  the  Board  agreed  upon  the  lot  upon 
which  the  State  House  should  be  erected." 

4th.     "  Fixed  the  site  for  the  State  House." 

5th.  e ( Met  the  Council,  and  appointed  those  we  had 
nominated  for  judges,  and  also  a  Committee  to  build  the 
State  House.  After  breakfast,  I  rode  to  Epsom,  to  see  my 
sister." 

6th.  te  In  the  morning,  I  pursued  my  journey  home  on 
horseback.  At  Deerfield  line,  I  was  met  by  an  escort,  which 
continued  to  increase  till  I  reached  my  own  house,  there 
being  more  than  five  hundred  gentlemen  on  horseback.  The 
concourse  of  people  was  great,  more  than  fifteen  hundred  at 
the  house.  They  behaved  very  well ;  and  by  eight  in  the 
evening  they  all  left  me." 

The  appointment  of  Federalists  to  office  by  a  Re 
publican  Executive  was  an  act  of  justice  and  liberal 
ity,  which  neither  party  knew  how  duly  to  appreciate. 
The  leaders  of  the  Federal  party  had  not  given  over 


444  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

the  hope  of  regaining  their  lost  ascendency  in  the 
state ;  and  they  saw  that  if,  co-operating  with  the 
liberal  policy  of  the  Governor,  some  of  their  ablest 
men  took  seats  on  the  bench  by  his  appointment,  it 
would  not  be  easy,  under  any  local  issues  which  they 
could  raise,  now  that  the  old  national  ones  were 
closed,  to  rally  the  party  strength  for  a  new  contest. 
Upham,  who  was  appointed  to  the  Superior  Court, 
told  me,  many  years  after,  (June  4,  1847,)  that  he 
had,  at  first,  determined  to  accept  the  office;  but,  on 
coming  to  Concord,  he  was  advised  by  Thomas  W. 
Thompson  and  other  Federalists  not  to  do  so ;  that, 
on  his  way  to  Portsmouth,  to  consult  Mr.  Mason  on 
the  subject,  he  was  told  by  Roswell  Stevens,  of  Pem 
broke,  that  Amos  Kent,  of  Chester,  had,  on  the  advice 
of  Daniel  Webster,  declined  the  judgeship  offered 
him ;  and  that  other  Federalists  appointed  would  do 
the  same.  On  hearing  this  he  returned  home,  and 
notified  the  Governor  that  he  declined  the  appoint 
ment,  though  he  should,  he  said,  have  been  happy, 
under  other  circumstances,  with  the  concurrence  of 
his  friends,  to  accept  it.  The  Federal  party  could 
hardly  have  made  a  greater  mistake  than  to  reject 
the  olive  branch  thus  offered  to  them,  at  a  time  when 
their  power  was,  practically,  at  an  end,  not  in  the 
state  only,  but  throughout  the  Union.  Yet  such  was 
still  the  inveteracy  of  feeling  with  many,  that  the 
Governor  was,  soon  after,  informed  that  one  Federal- 


LIFE     OP     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  445 

1st  whom  lie  had  appointed  a  judge,  not  content  with 
declining  the  office,  had  nailed  up  his  commission  in 
a  grog-shop ;  thus  exposing  it  to  the  derision  of  its 
inmates,  and  himself  hardly  less  to  the  pity,  or  the 
contempt,  of  all  moderate  and  reflecting  men.  Wil 
liam  II.  Woodward  was  the  only  Federalist,  out  of 
seven  appointed  judges,  who  accepted  the  office. 
"  Though  in  making  these  appointments,  I  have  been 
directed,"  says  the  Governor,  "by  what  I  consider 
the  public  interest,  I  am  sensible  I  have  made  per 
sonal  enemies.  The  disposition  of  offices  makes 
many  enemies,  and  but  few  friends.  What  is  worse, 
I  am  held  responsible  for  all  appointments,  but  have 
not  the  power  to  appoint,  in  all  cases,  those  whom  I 
consider  best  qualified." 

Not  discouraged  by  his  ill  success  thus  far,  Gover 
nor  Plumer  made  one  more  attempt  to  exclude 
politics  from  the  temple  of  justice,  and  thus  to 
secure  the  confidence  of  all  parties  in  the  impartial 
ity,  as  well  as  in  the  ability  of  the  courts  of  law, — an 
object  which  he  justly  regarded  as  second  to  none 
which  he  could  accomplish  in  the  appointments 
which  he  had  to  make.  For  this  purpose,  he  sought 
to  place  his  old  friend  Jeremiah  Mason,  as  Chief 
Justice,  on  the  Bench  of  the  Superior  Court,  Rich 
ardson,  who  held  that  office,  offered  to  resign,  and 
take  a  side-seat  under  Mason.  When  applied  to  in 
person  by  the  Governor,  Mr.  Mason  seemed,  at  first, 


446  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK. 

not  displeased  with  the  offer,  but  doubted  whether  he 
could  be  appointed.  "Your  views/'  he  said,  "are  too 
liberal  for  your  party.  Your  Council  will  not  con 
sent  to  my  appointment."  The  Governor  afterwards 
wrote  to  him  on  the  subject.  "It  is  an  office  worthy 
of  your  ambition ;  and  one  which  I  hope  you  will 
hold,  till  you  are  removed  to  the  Bench  of  the  Su 
preme  Court  of  the  United  States."  In  his  answer, 
(August  18th,  1816,)  Mr.  Mason  said : 

"  I  am  sensible  of  the  honor  which  you  do  me  in  your 
letter  of  the  7th  instant.  Could  I  flatter  myself  with,  the  be 
lief  of  possessing  the  necessary  qualifications,  the  proposed 
office  would  certainly  satisfy  my  highest  ambition.  There 
would,  however,  still  remain  two  objections,  which  to  me 
appear  insuperable.  The  salary  allowed  by  the  present  law 
appears  to  me  wholly  inadequate.  My  other  objection  arises 
from  the  late  organization  of  the  Court.  After  thus  stating 
the  reasons  which  prevent  my  complying  with  your  proposal, 
I  trust  it  is  unnecessary  to  add  that  political  considerations, 
which,  in  these  times,  are  often  supposed  to  determine  every 
thing,  have,  with  me,  on  this  subject,  no  influence." 

In  a  pecuniary  point  of  view,  the  decision  was 
undoubtedly  correct,  the  salary  bearing  no  compari 
son  with  what  he  received  for  his  services  at  the  bar. 
But  had  he  accepted  the  office,  besides  the  service 
rendered  the  state,  he  could  have  built  up  for  himself, 
in  the  twenty-two  years  for  which  he  might  have 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK.  447 

held  it,  a  judicial  reputation  such  as  no  New  England 
judge  has  ever  yet  attained.  As  Mason  declined 
going  upon  the  Bench,  Richardson  remained  Chief 
Justice ;  and  the  place  which  Upham  had  refused, 
was  ultimately  conferred  on  Levi  Woodbury.  Wood- 
bury,  called  in  derision,  at  the  time,  "the  baby  judge," 
was  not  quite  twenty-seven  years  old.  He  was  then 
Secretary  of  the  Senate,  and  thought  of  by  nobody 
as  judge,  perhaps  not  even  by  himself.  But  the  keen 
eye  and  quick  discernment  of  the  Governor,  with 
whom  he  boarded,  at  the  house  of  Isaac  Hill,  had 
seen  enough,  during  the  session,  to  satisfy  him  that 
he  was  qualified  for  the  place,  and  would  do  no  dis 
credit,  in  later  life,  to  his  early  patron.  Nor  did 
Woodbury  disappoint  these  expectations.  He  was 
afterwards  Governor  of  the  State,  Senator  in  Con 
gress,  Secretary  of  the  Navy  and  of  the  Treasury, 
and  died  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  with  the  near  prospect,  had  he  lived  a  year 
longer,  of  being  President.  Thirty-five  years  after 
this  first  appointment,  on  occasion  of  Woodbury's 
death,  the  Attorney  General,  Walker,  spoke  of  "  the 
venerable  Plumer,"  and  characterized  him  as  "  that 
great  and  unerring  judge  of  the  heads  and  the  hearts  of 
men," — terms,  in  their  full  import,  inapplicable  to  man, 
but,  in  a  lower  sense,  not  ill  describing  the  knowledge 
of  human  nature,  for  which  he  was  distinguished. 


448  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

After  filling  this  and  other  vacancies  in  the  courts, 
the  Governor  says,  in  his  journal  : 

"  These  appointments  have  relieved  me  from  much  anxiety. 
Our  courts  of  law  were  never  before  filled  by  men  so  well 
qualified  for  their  places  as  are  the  present  judges.  I  have 
had  great  trouble,  and  incurred  great  odium ;  but  the  intol 
erance  of  others  has  been,  and  shall  be,  no  rule  for  me.  My 
liberality  gains  me  no  credit  with  either  party.  But  I  will 
do  my  duty ;  and  when  I  retire  to  private  life,  I  shall  enjoy  a 
richer  reward  than  that  of  office." 

October  3d,  1816.  "I  am  informed  that,  before  my  elec 
tion  in  March,  the  President  had  determined  to  appoint  me 
Commissioner,  under  the  late  treaty  with  England,  to  run 
the  line  between  the  United  States  and  Canada ;  but  my 
election  made  this  improper.  This  was  an  office  unsought, 
and  unthought  of  by  me,  I  have  recently  been  requested 
to  nominate  an  agent  from  this  state  to  attend  the  Corn- 


It  appears,  too,  from  a  statement  of  Mr.  Mason,  that 
he  was,  about  this  time,  spoken  of  as  likely  to  succeed 
his  friend,  Adams,  as  minister  to  Ilussia.  But  this 
was  an  office  for  which,  with  his  ignorance  of  French, 
he  would  have  thought  himself  unfit. 

To  Judge  Woodward  he  wrote,  (August  10th, 
1816:) 

"  I  intend  to  be  in  Hanover  in  season ;  but  you  must  ex 
cuse  me  from  meeting  an  escort.  It  has  been  an  object  with 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  449 

me,  through  life,  to  avoid  parade.  It  is  troublesome  to  my 
friends,  and  painful  to  me,  as  ill  according  with  my  views  of 
the  simplicity  of  a  Kepublican  government.  I  feel  a  grateful 
sense  of  the  value  of  public  approbation.  But  to  enjoy  the 
consciousness  of  having  merited  it,  is  to  me  a  sufficient 
reward  for  the  toils  of  office,  and  the  calumnies  of  the  ignorant 
and  the  designing.  You  will,  therefore,  be  so  obliging  as  to 
make  my  compliments  to  Colonel  Poole  and  my  Hanover 
friends,  and  dissuade  them  from  taking  the  trouble  to  meet 
me  on  the  road." 


In  his  speech  to  the  Legislature,  (November  20th, 
1816,)  the  Governor  confined  himself  chiefly  to  the 
affairs  of  the  State,  those  of  the  Union  not  requiring 
from  him,  since  the  return  of  peace,  more  than  a 
passing  notice.  The  strict  notions  of  economy  in  the 
public  expenditures,  which,  on  a  former  occasion,  had 
prompted  him  to  recommend  the  reduction  of  salaries, 
including  his  own,  now  showed  itself  in  various  sug 
gestions  made  by  him  in  relation  to  the  fees  of 
sheriffs,  treasurers,  clerks,  and  other  county  officers. 
These  were,  in  part,  adopted  by  the  Legislature,  and 
led  to  some  useful  improvements  in  the  laws  on  this 
subject.  Among  other  matters  adverted  to  in  the 
speech  were  the  building  of  the  State  House,  the 
funding  of  the  treasury  notes  received  from  the  Gen 
eral  Government,  and  the  affairs  of  the  University. 
It  soon  appeared  that,  in  relation  to  the  two  former 

29 


450  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

of  these,  and  indeed,  with  respect  to  his  administra 
tion  generally,  the  Governor  was  now  to  encounter, 
among  his  own  party,  an  opposition  more  envenomed, 
if  possible,  than  he  had  before  experienced  from  his 
Federalist  opponents.  Messrs.  Morrill,  Pierce,  Claggett, 
Quarles,  and  Butler,  the  very  leaders  of  the  Republi 
can  party,  were,  for  various  reasons,  unfriendly  to 
him.  Morrill,  at  that  time  Speaker,  was  afterwards 
Senator  in  Congress,  and  Governor  of  the  State ; 
Pierce  and  Quarles  were  members  of  the  Council, 
and  the  former  was  afterwards  Governor.  Claggett 
had  been  judge  of  the  Superior  Court;  and  both  he 
and  Butler  were  members  of  the  House,  and  after 
wards  elected  to  Congress.  These  acknowledged 
leaders  of  the  party  might  reasonably  be  expected, 
in  any  given  case,  to  be  too  strong,  by  their  united 
force,  for  any  individual  who  refused  submission  to 
their  will.  Morrill,  as  Speaker,  appointed  Committees 
on  the  State  House  and  the  Treasury  Note  business, 
who  reported  unfavorably  to  the  action  of  the  Gov 
ernor  in  both  these  cases.  He  had  received  from  the 
General  Government  forty  thousand  dollars  in  treasury 
notes,  bearing  an  interest  of  5|  per  cent.,  on  account 
of  military  services  in  the  late  war,  and  had  funded 
the  sum  at  the  loan  office,  receiving  United  States 
six  per  cent,  stock  for  the  amount  due  on  the  notes. 
The  committee  thought  he  ought  to  have  sold  the 
notes,  which  were  at  a  great  discount  in  the  market, 


LIFE     OP     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  451 

and  put  the  proceeds  in  the  treasury,  or  bought 
United  States  stock  with  it.  This  notion  of  turning 
broker,  and  speculating  with  the  public  funds,  had 
never  occurred  to  the  Governor,  who  disposed  of  the 
United  States  notes,  as  Governor  Gilman,  with  the 
approbation  of  the  Legislature,  had,  the  year  before, 
done  with  those  received  by  him. 

The  location  of  the  new  State  House,  whether 
north  or  south  of  a  given  line,  on  the  Main  Street  in 
Concord,  was  a  question  in  which  it  might  have  been 
thought  few  would  take  much  interest,  except  the 
dwellers  on  that  street.  Yet  it  excited  a  furious 
contest,  not  only  in  the  town,  but  among  the  mem 
bers  of  the  Legislature,  and  through  the  state.  As 
the  spot  selected  by  the  Governor  and  Council  was 
at  a  considerable  distance  south  of  the  old  State 
House,  the  people  at  the  north  end,  with  whom 
nearly  all  the  members  of  the  Legislature  had 
hitherto  boarded,  were  likely,  by  the  new  location, 
to  lose  thenceforth  this  monopoly.  The  clamor 
which  they  raised  was  in  proportion  to  their  sup 
posed  interest  in  the  question;  and  it  was  soon 
found  that  many  of  the  members  were  deeply 
infected  with  the  feelings  and  the  prejudices  of 
their  landlords  on  this  subject, — "representatives," 
as  Toppan,  of  Hampton,  said,  "  of  their  respective 
boarding  houses,  rather  than  of  the  state."  The  spot 
selected  was  denounced  as  "  a  quagmire,  and  a  frog- 


452  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

pond ; "  and  Colonel  Prescott,  of  JafFrey,  amused  the 
House  with  an  account  of  the  frogs  he  had  seen 
leaping  about  in  the  cellar,  which  might  be  ex 
pected,  at  some  future  session,  should  the  court  be 
held  there,  "  to  make  as  much  noise  in  it,"  he  said, 
"as  I  do  now."  The  Council  had  been  divided  on  the 
location;  and  as  the  Governor's  influence  was  sup 
posed  mainly  to  have  settled  the  question,  the  odium 
of  the  measure,  with  those  who  disliked  it,  fell  chiefly 
on  him.  The  report  of  the  committee  was,  however, 
rejected  by  the  House,  yeas  73,  nays  84 ;  and  it  is 
now  generally  admitted  that  no  better  spot  could 
have  been  selected. 

Many  timid  Republicans  were  alarmed  at  these 
divisions  in  the  party.  "But  difficulties,"  said  the 
Governor,  in  a  letter  to  me  at  the  time,  "  neither 
embarrass,  nor  discourage  me ;  and  I  seldom  despond. 
I  have  always  found  that  what  people  call  dangers 
appear  greater  at  a  distance,  than  wrhen  near  at 
hand."  It  was  in  the  midst  of  these  excitements, 
increased  as  they  were  by  the  Governor's  putting  his 
veto  on  a  bill  which  had  just  passed  both  Houses  by 
very  strong  majorities,  and  when,  by  many,  it  was 
believed  that  his  popularity  was  gone  forever,  that 
he  received  the  most  convincing  proof  that,  howrever 
certain  leaders  might  be  disaffected,  the  great  mass 
of  the  party  did  justice  to  his  motives,  and  had  lost 
none  of  their  confidence  in  his  integrity. 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  453 

Under  date  of  December  17th,  1816,  lie  says: 

(e  The  Republicans  met  this  evening,  to  nominate  a  candi 
date  for  Governor  for  the  next  year.  Ninety-three  members 
attended, — a  larger  number  than  at  any  other  caucus  this 
session.  General  Pierce,  in  the  chair,  opened  the  meeting  by 
observing  that  the  Republicans  were  much  divided,  and 
would  not  probably  be  able  to  agree  upon  a  candidate.  He 
therefore  proposed  that  the  subject  be  postponed.  Claggett 
seconded  the  motion,  and  was  followed  by  Butler  on  the  same 
side.  Two  or  three  other  members  replied,  and  the  motion 
was  negatived.  On  counting  the  ballots  for  a  candidate,  there 
were,  for  David  L.  Morrill,  one  ;  for  Levi  Bartlett,  seven  ;  and 
eighty-five  for  me.  The  two  Councillors  and  the  Speaker, 
with  Butler  and  Claggett,  could  get  only  three  other  members 
to  vote  with  them.  They  want  a  Governor  whom  they  can 
govern.  I  am  not  altogether  such  a  one." 

It  was  not  without  pleasure  that,  amidst  the  vio 
lence  of  these  factious  discontents,  he  received  the 
following  letter  from  his  friend,  John  Quincy  Adams, 
at  that  time  Minister  to  England  : 

"  His  EXCELLENCY  WILLIAM  PLUMER, 
GOVERNOR  OF  NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

"  EALING,  near  London,  January  17th,  1817. 
"  MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  am  yet  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
your  two  obliging  favors  of  6th  March  and  30th  July  last, 
the  latter  enclosing  a  copy  of  your  speech  to  the  Legislature. 
During  the  whole  time  that  I  have  enjoyed  the  happiness  of 
an  acquaintance  and  friendship  with  you,  there  has  been  so 


454  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK. 

• 

general  a  coincidence  of  sentiment  between  us  upon  all  the 
objects  of  concernment  to  our  country,  which  have  succes 
sively  arisen,  that  I  can  ascribe  it  to  no  other  cause  than  to 
the  similitude,  or  rather  the  identity,  of  our  political  and  moral 
principles.  It  was,  therefore,  not  possible  for  me  to  read 
your  excellent  speech  without  great  pleasure,  and  I  was  much 
gratified  to  see  that  its  merits  did  not  escape  public  notice, 
even  in  this  country.  It  was  republished  entire  in  one  of  the 
newspapers  of  the  most  extensive  circulation ;  not  as,  during 
our  late  war,  some  of  our  Governors'  speeches  were  repub 
lished,  to  show  the  subserviency  of  the  speakers  to  the  bulwark 
of  our  holy  religion)  and  to  the  press-gang,  but  professedly 
for  the  pure,  and  patriotic,  and  genuine  Republican  sentiments 
with  which  it  abounded.  It  has  been  a  truly  cheering  con 
templation  to  me  to  see  that  the  people  of  New  Hampshire 
have  recovered  from  the  delusions  of  that  unprincipled  faction, 
which,  under  the  name  of  Federalism,  was  driving  them  to  the 
dissolution  of  the  Union,  and,  under  the  name  of  Washington, 
to  British  recolonization, — to  see  them  returning  to  the  coun 
sels  of  sober  and  moderate  men,  who  are  biased  by  no  feelings 
but  those  of  public  spirit,  and  by  no  interests  but  those  of 
their  country.  Such  a  person,  I  well  knew,  they  had  found 
in  you,  and  such,  I  hope,  you  will  find  in  your  present  and 
future  coadjutors.  Although  the  progress  of  reformation 
has  not  been  so  rapid  and  effectual  in  our  native  state  as  it 
has  been  with  you,  yet  the  tendency  of  the  public  opinion  has 
been  steadily,  since  the  peace,  in  that  direction,  as  it  has  been 
throughout  the  Union  ;  and,  as  that  faction  cannot  fail  to  sink 
in  proportion  as  the  country  prospers,  I  do  not  despair  of 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  455 

seeing  the  day  when  the  policy  of  all  the  state  governments 
will  be  in  unison  with  that  of  the  nation. 

(( We  have  lately  received  what  may  be  termed  President 
Madison's  valedictory  message  to  Congress ;  and  grateful 
indeed  must  it  be  to  his  feelings  to  compare  the  condition  of  the 
country,  at  the  close  of  his  administration,  with  the  turbulent 
and  perilous  state  in  which  it  was  at  the  period  of  his  first 
election.  It  will  be  the  great  duty  of  his  successor,  and  of 
the  Congress  with  which  he  is  to  operate,  to  use  diligently 
the  days  of  peace  to  prepare  the  nation  for  other  trials,  which 
are  probably  not  far  distant,  and  which,  sooner  or  later,  cannot 
fail  to  arise.  Your  speech  most  justly  remarks  that  the  late 
war  raised  our  public  character  in  the  estimation  of  the  other 
nations  ;  but  we  cannot  be  too  profoundly  impressed  with  the 
sentiment  that  it  has  by  no  means  added  to  the  number  of  our 
friends.  In  this  country  more  particularly,  it  is  impossible  for 
me  to  disguise  to  myself  that  the  national  feeling  of  animosity 
and  rancor  against  America  and  the  Americans,  is  more  uni 
versal  and  more  bitter  than  it  was  before  the  war.  A  con 
siderable  part  of  the  British  nation  then  despised  us  ;  and 
contempt  is  a  feeling  far  less  active  in  spurring  to  acts  of 
hostility  than  hatred  and  fear,  which  have  taken  its  place.  No 
Briton  of  any  party  ever  imagined  that  we  should  be  able  to 
maintain  a  contest  against  them  upon  the  ocean.  Very  few 
among  ourselves  expected  it.  Our  victories,  both  by  sea  and 
land,  though  intermingled  with  defeats  and  disasters,  which 
we  ought  to  remember  more  studiously  than  our  triumphs, 
have  placed  our  character,  as  a  martial  nation,  upon  a  level 
with  the  most  respectable  nations  of  Europe  ;  but  the  effect 
here  has  been  to  unite  all  parties  in  the  conviction  that  we  are 


456  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

destined  to  be  the  most  formidable  of  the  enemies  and  rivals 
of  their  naval  power.  Now  the  navy  is  so  universally  the 
idol  of  this  nation,  that  there  is  not  a  statesman  of  any  descrip 
tion  or  party,  who  dares  befriend  anything  opposed  to  it,  or 
look  with  other  than  hostile  eyes  to  anything  that  threatens  its 
glory  or  portends  its  downfall.  The  opposition  party,  and  its 
leaders  before  the  war,  were  much  more  liberally  disposed 
towards  America  than  the  ministerialists ;  but,  after  the  war 
commenced,  they  joined  the  ministers  in  full  pack ;  and,  since 
the  peace,  their  party  tactics  have  constantly  been  to  cavil 
against  any  liberality  or  concession  of  the  ministers  to  America. 
The  issue  of  the  late  European  wars  has  been  to  give  for  the 
moment,  though  it  will  not  last  long,  to  the  British  govern 
ment,  an  ascendency  of  influence  over  the  whole  continent 
of  Europe,  which  they  will  naturally  use  to  inspire  preju 
dices  and  jealousies  against  us.  There  is  already,  in  all  the 
governments  of  Europe,  a  strong  prejudice  against  us  as 
Republicans,  or  as  the  primary  cause  of  the  propagation  of 
those  political  principles,  which  still  make  the  throne  of  every 
European  monarch  rock  under  him,  as  with  the  throes  of  an 
earthquake. 

"With  Spain  we  are,  and  have  been  for  years,  on  the  verge 
of  war.  Nothing  but  the  impotence  of  the  Spanish  govern 
ment  has  hitherto  prevented  the  explosion,  and  we  have  so 
many  collisions  of  interest  as  well  as  of  principles  with  Spain, 
that  it  is  not  only  the  court,  but  the  nation,  which  hates  and 
fears  us. 

"  In  France,  the  government,  besides  being  in  tutelage 
under  Britain,  have  feelings  against  America,  more  venom 
ous  even  than  the  British.  The  mass  of  the  French  nation 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  457 

have  no  such  feelings,  but  they  have  no  attachment  to  us,  or 
friendship  for  us.  Their  own  condition  absorbs  all  their 
feelings,  and  they  would  delight  at  seeing  us  at  war 
with  Great  Britain,  because  they  flatter  themselves  that 
would  operate  as  a  diversion  in  their  favor,  and  perhaps 
enable  them  to  break  the  yoke  under  which  they  are 
groaning. 

"  We  have  claims  for  indemnities  against  the  governments 
of  France,  Spain,  the  Netherlands,  Naples,  and  Denmark,  the 
justice  of  which  they  do  not  admit,  and  which  nothing  but 
necessity  will  ever  bring  them  to  acknowledge. 

"The  very  pursuit  of  those  claims  has  a  tendency  to 
embroil  us  with  those  nations,  as  has  been  fully  exemplified  in 
the  result  of  Mr.  Pinkney's  late  mission  to  Naples,  and  yet, 
as  the  claims  are  just,  they  ought  not  to  be  abandoned.  The 
states  of  Barbary  owe  us  a  heavy  grudge  for  the  chastise 
ments  we  have  inflicted  upon  all  of  them,  and  for  the  example 
first  set  by  us  to  the  European  nations,  of  giving  them  battle 
instead  of  tribute,  and  of  breaking  up  their  system  of  piracy. 
We  have,  therefore,  enemies  in  almost  every  part  of  the  world, 
and  few  or  no  friends  anywhere.  If  there  be  an  exception, 
it  is  in  Russia ;  but  even  there  the  shameful  misconduct  of 
the  Russian  Consul-General  at  Philadelphia,  and  the  infamous 
manner  in  which  he  has  been  abetted  by  the  minister,  Dasch- 
koff,  have  produced  a  coldness  on  the  part  of  the  Emperor 
which  endangered  at  least  the  harmony  of  the  relations 
between  the  two  countries. 

"  Add  to  all  this  that  there  is  a  vague  and  general  senti 
ment  of  speculative  and  forecasting  jealousy  against  us  pre 
vailing  all  over  Europe.  We  are  considered  not  merely  as  an 


458  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

active  and  enterprising,  but  as  a  grasping  and  ambitious  people. 
We  are  supposed  to  have  inherited  all  the  bad  qualities  of 
the  British  character,  without  some  of  those  of  which  other 
nations  in  their  dealings  with  the  British  have  made  their 
advantage.  They  ascribe  to  us  all  the  British  rapacity,  with 
out  allowing  us  the  credit  of  the  British  profusion.  The 
universal  feeling  of  Europe,  in  witnessing  the  gigantic  growth 
of  our  population  and  power,  is  that  we  shall,  if  united,  be 
come  a  very  dangerous  member  of  the  society  of  nations. 
They  therefore  hope,  what  they  confidently  expect,  that  we 
shall  not  long  remain  united  ;  that,  before  we  shall  have 
attained  the  strength  of  national  manhood,  our  Union  will  be 
dissolved,  and  that  we  shall  break  up  into  two  or  more 
nations,  in  opposition  against  one  another.  The  conclusion 
from  all  which  that  we  must  draw  is,  to  do  justice  invariably 
to  every  nation,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  fix  our  military,  naval, 
and  fiscal  establishments  upon  a  foundation  adequate  to  our 
defence,  and  enabling  us  to  obtain  justice  in  return  from 
them. 

"  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to  procure  for  you  Adair's 
History  of  the  Indians,  but  I  have  found,  at  a  very  moderate 
price,  a  complete  set  of  the  llemembrancer,  including  the 
prior  documents,  all  in  eleven  volumes,  which  I  propose  to 
send  you  by  the  Galen,  to  sail  about  the  first  of  March. 

"  I  remain,  with  great  respect  and  attachment,  dear  sir, 
your  friend  and  humble  servant, 

"JoHN  QUINCY  ADAMS." 

The  Trustees  of  the  University  were  required  by 
the  law  under  which  they  were  appointed  to  meet 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  459 

on  the  26th  of  August ;  but  as  they  failed  at  that  time 
to  form  a  quorum,  it  was  not  till  the  Legislature  in 
November  authorized  them  to  meet  at  a  different 
time,  that  they  were  organized  as  a  board.  Nine  out 
of  twelve  of  the  old  Trustees  declined  accepting  the 
new  law,  and  refused  to  act  under  it.  They  continued 
to  act  under  the  old  charter ;  and  instituted  a  suit 
against  Judge  Woodward,  the  Treasurer  of  the  Uni 
versity,  to  try  the  validity  of  the  new  law.  This 
suit  was  decided  against  them  in  November,  1817, 
by  the  Superior  Court,  which  pronounced  the  law 
constitutional,  in  an  elaborate  and  ably  reasoned 
opinion  delivered  by  Chief  Justice  Richardson.  The 
case  was  carried  up  to  Washington,  and  finally 
decided,  in  the  Supreme  Court,  in  favor  of  the  old 
Trustees ;  upon  the  ground  that  the  law  was  a  viola 
tion  of  that  clause  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  which  provides  that  "no  state  shall  pass  any 
law  impairing  the  obligation  of  contracts."  The 
court  held  that,  the  college  being  a  private  eleemosy 
nary  corporation,  the  original  charter  was  a  contract 
between  the  royal  government  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  Trustees  on  the  other,  which  could  not  be  altered 
by  the  state,  without  the  consent  of  the  Trustees. 
Such  consent  not  having  been  given,  the  act  was 
invalid.  This  decision  terminated,  at  once,  the  brief 
existence  of  Dartmouth  University.  It  was  not 
made  till  after  Governor  Plumer  had  retired  from 


460  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

public  life.  He  was  slow  to  believe  that  this  clause 
of  the  Constitution  respecting  contracts  was  intended 
to  apply  to  a  case  like  that  of  the  University.  In 
this  doubt  he  was  sustained  by  Judge  Marshall,  who 
said  that,  though  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  had 
not  probably  foreseen  its  application  to  this  class  of 
cases,  their  words  were  broad  enough  to  embrace  it. 
However  that  might  be,  and  without  setting  up  his 
opinion,  supported  as  it  was  by  that  of  the  State 
Court,  against  the  judgment  of  Marshall  and  Story, 
Governor  Plumer  regarded  it  as  unfortunate  for  all 
parties,  that  the  decision  should  have  been  such  as  to 
withdraw  the  college  at  once  from  the  control  and 
from  the  patronage  of  the  state.  Considering  it  as 
essentially  a  public  institution,  he  held  that  the 
authority  of  the  state  ought  rightfully  to  extend  over 
it,  and  that  this  would  be  equally  for  the  benefit  of 
the  college  and  of  the  community. 

The  opposition  which  the  Governor  had  encoun 
tered  among  his  own  party  in  the  Legislature  was 
transferred  to  the  people,  in  the  canvass  for  the 
March  elections.  A  paper,  called  "The  People's 
Advocate,"  established  in  Portsmouth  in  opposition 
to  Messrs.  Livermore  and  Parrott,  in  the  preceding 
November  election,  was  now  turned  upon  Governor 
Plumer,  with  a  virulence  of  personal  abuse  seldom 
equalled  in  party  contests.  Some  honest,  but  over- 
zealous  Republicans,  who  could  not  pardon  the 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  461 

appointment  of  a  few  Federalist  judges,  joined  this 
opposition ;  but  the  clamor  came  chiefly  from  men 
whose  resentments  were  inflamed  by  the  sting  of  per 
sonal  ambition,  disappointed  of  its  aim,  by  the  refusal 
of  the  Governor  to  give  them  or  their  friends  the 
offices  they  claimed.  With  these  it  was  not  so  much 
that  he  had  been  liberal  to  his  political  opponents,  as 
that  he  was  insensible  to  their  own  individual  merits. 
This  factious  opposition  made,  however,  little  impres 
sion  on  the  public  mind,  beyond  the  disgust  excited 
by  the  violence  of  its  abuse,  and  the  manifest  false 
hood  and  injustice  of  its  charges.  This  feeling  of 
condemnation  grew  so  strong,  before  the  close  of  the 
campaign,  that  Butler,  Bartlett,  and  other  leading 
men,  who  were  supposed  to  favor  the  movement, 
came  out,  one  after  another,  in  the  public  journals,  to 
deny  all  connexion  with  it. 

When  the  votes  came  to  be  counted,  (June  5th, 
1817,)  it  was  found  that  out  of  thirty-five  thousand 
five  hundred  and  eighty-five  cast,  the  Advocate  candi 
date  had  received  only  five  hundred  and  thirty-nine. 
The  Federalists  were  divided  between  Mason  and 
Sheafe ;  and  Governor  Plumer  received  a  majority 
of  more  than  three  thousand  votes  over  all  the 
other  candidates.  This  signal  failure  of  the  Advocate 
party  put  an  end  to  all  further  opposition  to  him 
among  the  Republicans;  and  his  firmness  and  im 
partiality  had  secured  him  so  much  credit  among 


462  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

enlightened  men  of  all  parties,  that  he  met  thence 
forth  no  serious  personal  opposition  from  any  quarter. 
The  treasury  note  stock,  about  which  so  much 
clamor  was  made,  had,  meantime,  risen  above  par, 
and  had  been  sold  to  meet  the  war  expenses ;  the 
appointment  of  the  judges  was  no  longer  a  question 
in  dispute ;  the  State  House,  which,  it  was  predicted, 
would  sink  out  of  sight  in  the  quagmire,  was  rising 
gradually  to  completion,  in  the  Doric  simplicity  of 
its  granite  strength ;  and  the  frogs,  which,  during  the 
November  session,  had  croaked  so  dismally  in  its  cel 
lar,  were  no  longer  heard  under  the  bright  sun  of 
the  succeeding  June. 

Two  brief  extracts  from  letters  of  this  period  will 
close  the  present  chapter;  one  respecting  the 
Colonization  Society,  then  just  founded,  the  other 
respecting  the  University. 

In  a  letter  to  the  Rev.  Thomas  C.  Searle,  of  Mary 
land,  (Jan.  13th,  1817,)  he  says: 

"  I  rejoice  that  measures  are  taking  in  the  south  to  ameli 
orate  the  sufferings  of  the  negroes.  I  have  some  doubts 
whether  free  blacks  will  consent  to  form  a  colony  in  a  distant 
land.  If  they  do  not,  will  our  laws  justify  compulsion  ? 
Perhaps  sufficient  numbers  may  be  liberated,  on  condition  of 
their  forming  such  a  colony.  I  should  prefer  that  it  should 
be  in  Africa,  rather  than  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific.  If  on 
the  latter,  they  may  hereafter  prove  troublesome  neighbors  to 
us,  when  we  shall  extend,  as  we  soon  shall,  our  settlements 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  463 

to  that  ocean.  But,  in  all  events,  I  will  afford  my  feeble  aid 
and  influence  to  rid  the  country  of  slaves  and  of  black  men, — 
a  blot  upon  our  character,  an  obstruction  to  our  prosperity, 
and  a  severe  scourge  to  the  nation." 

To  the  Rev.  Elijah  Parish,  he  writes,  (April  21st, 
1817:) 

"  It  affords  me  pleasure  to  hear  that  the  measures  I  have 
adopted  in  relation  to  Dartmouth  University  meet  your 
approbation.  On  that  subject,  as  on  others,  I  have  done 
what  I  considered  my  duty,  and  nothing  more.  It  gives  me 
great  satisfaction  to  reflect  that  I  had  an  agency  in  restoring 
the  worthy  Wheelock  to  the  office  from  which  he  was  unjustly 
removed.  But  it  has  pleased  Heaven  to  remove  him  thence. 
He  is  gone  where  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling,  and  the 
weary  are  at  rest.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  University  will 
yet  become  prosperous,  if  its  friends  do  their  duty.  In  the 
mean  time,  we  must  wait,  in  patience,  the  issue  of  the  suit 
now  depending  in  the  Superior  Court." 


CHAPTER     XII. 

CLOSE    OF   POLITICAL   LIFE. 

GOVERNOR  PLUMER  met  the  Legislature,  and  took  the 
affirmation  of  office  on  the  5th  of  June,  1817.  His 
message  contained  many  useful  suggestions,  and 
recommended  various  amendments  of  the  law,  but 
none  which  require  special  notice  here.  A  resolu 
tion,  which  had  passed  the  Legislature,  was  returned 
by  him  with  his  veto,  and  rejected  by  the  House, 
yeas  4,  nays  143. 

On  the  eve  of  the  adjournment,  the  Legislature 
sent  him  a  bill,  making  the  fact  of  joining  the  Shakers, 
and  living  with  them  six  months,  a  cause  of  divorce. 
As  he  had  not  time  to  return  it  with  his  objections, 
and  did  not  sign  it,  it  failed  to  become  a  law.  It- 
grew  out  of  the  case  of  Mary  Dyer,  who,  with  her 
husband  Joseph,  had,  some  years  before,  joined  the 
Shakers,  at  Enfield.  He  remained  with  them ;  but 
Mary  came  away,  and  now  applied  for  a  law  giving 
her  the  possession  of  her  children.  She  was  a  woman 
of  great  energy  and  decision  of  character.  She  kept 
up  an  interminable  warfare  with  the  society  in  memo 
rials  to  the  Legislature,  and  publications  against  them. 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  465 

Thirty-five  years  after  her  first  petition,  she  was  still 
an  applicant  to  the  General  Court  on  this  subject. 
"Mary,"  said  her  husband,  in  the  hearing  before  the 
Legislature  in  1818,  "is  a  capable  critter.  We  got 
along  very  well  together  while  I  let  her  have  her 
own  way  in  every  thing  •  but  she  won't  bear  contra 
diction.  Her  tongue  is  an  unruly  member,  with  a 
world  of  iniquity  in  it,  if  you  cross  her."  I  was,  at 
that  time,  a  member  of  the  House,  and  had  abundant 
proof  that  Mary's  sharp  tongue  and  shrewd  wit  were 
more  than  a  match  for  Joseph  and  his  brethren, 
though  some  of  the  latter  were  shrewd  enough  too. 
Her  statements  about  Shaker  practices  were  suffi 
ciently  piquant;  and  some  of  her  repartees  and  retorts 
were  such  as  could  hardly  have  been  surpassed  in 
keenness  and  efficiency.  She  carried  the  House 
strongly  with  her,  and  the  popular  feeling  was 
much  excited.  The  committee  to  whom  the  sub 
ject  was  referred  visited,  with  other  members,  the 
Shakers  at  Canterbury;  but  we  returned  without 
making  any  very  alarming  disclosures.  "Our  Legis 
lature,"  said  the  Governor,  in  a  letter  to  Joseph 
Hawley,  of  Rochester,  New  York,  "  passed  no  law  in 
relation  to  the  Shakers,  though  the  subject  was  fully 
and  ably  discussed.  I  consider  that  sect,  and  some 
others  in  our  country,  as  being  wild  and  enthusiastic ; 
but  I  fear  that  legislative  interference  with  them 
would  produce  more  evil  than  good  to  society.  Per- 

30 


466  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

secution,  or  what,  by  its  objects,  can,  in  any  way,  be 
considered  such,  seldom  fails  to  build  up  the  sect 
against  which  it  is  directed ;  hence,  the  proverb  '  The 
blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  church'  Nothing  is 
more  fatal  to  enthusiasm  than  toleration  and  neglect." 
Soon  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Legislature, 
President  Monroe  came  to  New  Hampshire  on  his 
tour  through  the  Northern  States.  He  was  every 
where  received  with  the  most  flattering  attentions, 
by  all  parties,  and  by  all  classes  of  the  people.  "  The 
era  of  good  feeling"  was  happily  inaugurated  on  this 
occasion  of  the  first  visit,  since  the  time  of  Washing 
ton,  of  a  Southern  President  to  New  England.  The 
leaders  of  the  Federalist  party,  aware  of  the  altered 
temper  of  the  times,  and  feeling  that  their  old  role 
of  opposition  was  now  out  of  date,  were  foremost  in 
their  demonstrations  of  respect  for  the  chief  magis 
trate  of  the  Union.  In  Massachusetts,  he  was  received 
by  the  Governor  with  the  highest  civil  honors ;  and 
a  military  escort  was  assigned  him,  under  a  vote  of 
the  Legislature,  in  his  passage  through  the  state. 
Governor  Plumer  was  applied  to,  by  a  committee 
from  Portsmouth,  to  call  out  the  militia  for  the  same 
purpose  here ;  but  he  declined  it  on  the  ground  of 
want  of  power.  He  wrote  to  the  President  on  the 
subject,  (July  18th,  1817,)  expressing  his  regret  at 
not  being  able,  consistently  with  his  sense  of  duty,  to 
order  out  an  escort  of  honor,  on  this  occasion. 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  467 

"  So  cautiously  is  my  power  restricted,  by  the  prudence, 
or  the  jealousy  of  our  State  Constitution,  that  I  have  authority, 
at  no  time,  to  order  out  the  militia,  except  for  certain  known 
objects,  designated  by  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  enacted 
under  it.  Among  these,  there  is  none,  which,  by  fair  con 
struction,  can  be  extended  to  the  present  case.  I  have 
thought  proper  to  make  this  statement,  in  justice  both  to 
myself  and  the  state  over  which  I  preside.  You  were 
informed,  while  at  Portsmouth,  of  my  severe  indisposition ; 
and  I  am  now  obliged  to  add,  that  I  am  still  confined  to  my 
bed,  by  an  attack  of  the  typhus  fever,  which  has  not  yet,  I  fear, 
reached  its  crisis.  This  unfortunate  event  has  deprived  me 
of  the  satisfaction  of  a  personal  interview  with  you,  and  pre 
vented  me  from  receiving  a  visit  at  this  place,  with  which  I 
had  flattered  myself  you  would  have  honored  me.  This  letter 
will  be  delivered  to  you  by  the  Secretary  of  State.  Had  my 
health  permitted,  I  should  have  taken  great  pleasure  in  wait 
ing  on  you,  in  person,  during  the  time  you  remained  in  the 
state,  and  in  suggesting  some  subjects  of  inquiry,  which  might 
have  merited  your  attention,  in  this  part  of  our  common 
country." 

The  President  wrote  in  reply,  (July  21st?  1817:) 

"  Meeting  your  son  at  Portsmouth,  I  begged  him  to  assure 
you  that  I  should  be  distressed  and  mortified,  if  you  suffered 
any  uneasiness  on  my  account,  since  it  would  delay  the  resto 
ration  of  your  health.  More  attention  could  not  have  been 
shown  to  me,  than  has  been,  since  I  entered  New  Hampshire. 
In  yielding  to  it,  I  have  consulted  the  wishes  of  my  fellow- 
citizens,  rather  than  my  own." 


468  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

From  Mr.  Plumer's  journal,  about  this  time,  we 
quote  the  following  extracts  : 

July  3d,  1817.  "My  son  William  came  from  Portsmouth,, 
and  urged  me  to  issue  orders  for  an  escort  to  the  President. 
He  said,  Richardson,  Mason,  and  others,  were  surprised  at  my 
doubts.  They  consider  the  power  as  incident  to  the  office. 
This  does  not  satisfy  me.  The  opinions  and  advice  of  men, 
who  are  not  responsible  for  the  act  to  be  performed,  are  not  to 
guide  me,  who  have  examined  the  subject,  and  am  responsible 
for  what  is  done.  I  must  act  on  my  own  sense  of  right,  and 
not  on  theirs." 

12th.  "  Yesterday  and  to-day,  I  have  been  confined  by  a 
typhus  fever  to  my  chamber,  and,  the  greater  part  of  the  time, 
to  my  bed." 

14th.  "  I  am  much  debilitated ;  but  my  spirits  are  good. 
My  physician  told  me  that  I  was  not  sensible  how  sick  I  was. 
I  assured  him  that,  as  the  fear  of  death  did  not  terrify  me,  I 
could  examine  calmly  the  state  of  my  disease ;  and,  though 
weak,  I  was  satisfied  that  I  was  not  dangerously  ill ;  that  for 
some  days  I  had  expected  the  attack,  and  prepared  to  meet 
it,  by  doing  all  the  business  of  a  public  or  private  nature, 
which  I  thought  necessary.  This  had  fatigued  me,  and  hast 
ened,  but  not  caused,  the  disease." 

24th.  "  I  am  so  weak  that  a  little  business  fatigues  and 
oppresses  me.  My  present  state  exhibits  much  of  the  infirmity 
of  age.  Though  not  old,  I  have  survived  all  my  first  friends, 
and  a  great  portion  of  my  early  associates.  Of  the  lawyers,  at 
the  bar  when  I  was  admitted,  only  six  remain.  There  is  not 
a  single  judge  of  any  court,  or  clerk  of  a  court,  that  was  in 


LIFE    OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER.  469 

office  when  I  commenced  public  life  ;  nor  a  member  of  either 
House,  treasurer,  or  secretary,  that  was  such  when  I  first 
entered  the  Legislature.  Of  justices  of  the  peace,  not  one  in 
twelve  is  now  living,  who  was  in  commission  when  I  was  first 
appointed.  Indeed,  I  have  survived  most  of  the  officers  with 
whom  I  began  public  life." 

August  26th,  1817.  "The  ill  state  of  my  health  prevents 
my  attending  the  Commencement  at  Hanover." 

October  13th.  "Travelled  to  Concord  in  my  chaise,  ac 
companied  by  my  son  George.  As  I  dislike  parade,  I 
thought  a  servant  unnecessary." 

14th.  "  In  the  afternoon,  met  the  Council,  and  stated  to 
them  the  business  necessary  to  be  done  at  the  present  session." 

15th.  "  The  Council  were  unanimously  in  favor  of  ap 
pointing  my  son  William,  judge  ;  but  I  informed  them  that 
I  could  not  consent  to  nominate  any  of  my  sons  to  office,  and 
that,  if  appointed,  I  was  confident  he  would  not  accept." 

December  21st.  "  I  have  recently  devoted  a  considerable 
portion  of  time  to  reading  some  works  of  Jeremy  Bentham, 
which  he  sent  me.  In  many  things  my  opinions  accord  with 
his  ;  for  example — he  disapproves  of  oaths.  I  have  never 
taken  an  oath." 

February  12th,  1818.  "  I  had  yesterday  a  long  and  close 
conversation  with  Judge  Bell  upon  several  important  subjects 
of  jurisprudence.  It,  in  a  great  measure,  deprived  me  of  sound 
sleep,  for  the  night.  I  have  experienced,  several  times, 
within  a  year  or  two,  similar  effects  from  mental  exertion.  Is 
this  evidence  of  decay  in  the  mental  faculties,  or  does  it  pro 
ceed  from  other  causes  ?  " 

March  21st.     "I  do  not  recollect  ever  feeling  so  sensibly 


470  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK. 

the  influence  of  the  weather  on  my  mind,  as  I  have  to-day. 
Easterly  winds  were  always  disagreeable  to  me  ;  but  I  now 
became  uneasy,  peevish,  and  fretful ;  till  ultimately  it  pro 
duced  pain  in  my  limbs,  and  languor  and  sluggishness  in  my 
mind.  How  much  of  our  pain  and  our  enjoyment  is  dependent 
on  external  causes,  many  of  which  are  beyond  our  control !  " 
May  12th.  "  Met  the  Council  at  Concord.  I  nominated 
Amos  A.  Brewster  as  sheriff  of  Grafton  county ;  and  the 
Council  unanimously  signed  the  nomination.  Isaac  Hill  com 
plained  to  me  of  this  nomination ;  saying  that  Brewster  was  a 
Federalist,  and  that  it  would  injure  my  popularity.  I  told 
him,  that  I  neither  sought  office,  nor  desired  it ;  that,  in 
following  the  dictates  of  my  own  judgment,  in  cases  where  I 
was  responsible  for  the  measures  adopted,  I  might  meet 
reproach  from  others ;  but  I  should,  at  least,  avoid  the 
reproaches  of  my  own  mind.  I  could  not  consent  to  incur 
these  for  the  sake  of  popular  favor.  If  this  is  lost,  by  an 
upright  discharge  of  duty,  I  am  willing  to  lose  it.  He  said 
it  would  destroy  the  Republican  party,  if  it  was  understood 
that  Federalists  could  be  appointed  by  a  Republican  Governor  ; 
and,  in  language  not  very  courtly,  he  urged  me  to  negative 
the  nomination,  and  appoint  Edson.  My  reply,  though  in  a 
moderate  tone,  was  severe  and  pointed." 

The  March  elections  of  1818  were  conducted  with 
much  less  than  their  usual  zeal  and  acrimony.  The 
Advocate  party  attempted  no  organized  opposition. 
Many  Federalists  voted  for  the  Republican  candi 
date  ;  others  for  Jeremiah  Smith,  or  William  Hale. 
Governor  Plumer  was  re-elected  by  a  majority  of 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  4T1 

more  than  six  thousand  votes  over  all  other  candi 
dates.  His  message  to  the  Legislature,  June  4th, 
1818,  contained,  as  his  previous  ones  had  done,  various 
recommendations  for  the  amendment  of  the  laws, 
chiefly  with  a  view  to"  lessen  the  number  of  suits,  to 
expedite  the  trial  of  causes,  and  to  diminish  the  costs 
of  litigation.  He  also  recommended  an  increase  of 
the  salaries  of  the  judges  of  the  Superior  Court,  which 
was  accordingly  made,  and  the  establishment  of  a  law 
term  for  the  trial  of  law  questions.  In  this  message 
occur  the  following  recommendations  as  to  the  then 
existing  law  of  imprisonment  for  debt. 

"  There  is  another  subject,  connected  with  the  amelioration 
and  improvement  of  the  condition  of  our  fellow  citizens, 
which  merits  your  consideration.  I  mean  that  of  the  im 
prisonment  of  debtors.  Their  confinement  within  the  walls 
of  a  prison  pays  no  debt,  and,  instead  of  increasing,  diminishes 
the  means  of  payment.  The  loss  of  the  labor,  industry  and 
talents  of  useful  citizens,  thus  deprived  of  their  liberty,  not 
only  depresses  their  ambition,  but  often  subjects  towns  to  the 
charge  of  maintaining  their  families,  made  destitute  by  the 
absence  of  those  who  usually  provided  for  them.  In  ancient 
times,  and  in  countries  less  civilized  than  our  own,  the 
power  of  the  creditor  over  the  body  of  the  debtor  was 
almost  unlimited.  Even  in  New  Hampshire,  in  the  early 
stages  of  our  government,  the  debtor  was  strictly  confined 
within  the  walls  of  the  prison.  The  laws,  at  that  time, 
afforded  him  no  relief;  he  was  imprisoned  for  life,  unless  he 
paid  the  debt,  or  was  liberated  by  the  humanity  of  his  creditor. 


472  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

A  long  period  elapsed  before  a  prison  yard  was  established,  in 
which  the  debtor,  by  giving  bond,  was  permitted  to  breathe 
the  common  air  without  the  limits  of  the  prison  house ;  or 
before  indigent  debtors  were  authorized,  in  any  case,  to  make 
oath  that  they  were  unable  to  pay  their  debts.  Even  then, 
an  unfeeling  creditor  had  authority  to  retain  his  debtor 
during  life,  by  paying  a  small  sum  for  his  weekly  support. 
To  the  honor  of  the  state,  this  power  of  the  creditor  over 
his  debtor,  has  been  recently  annulled ;  and  certain  portions 
of  his  property,  requisite  to  support  life,  exempted  from 
attachment. 

"  Great  as  these  improvements  are,  the  cause  of  humanity 
and  of  natural  justice  requires  further  legislative  aid.  We 
are  bound,  not  only  to  protect  the  rights  of  creditors  against 
the  frauds  of  debtors,  but  to  shield  the  latter  against  the 
unjust  severity  of  the  former.  Our  laws  still  authorize  the 
creditor,  after  taking  the  greatest  part  of  the  debtor's  prop 
erty,  to  deprive  him  of  his  liberty  by  confining  him  in 
prison,  without  affording  him  the  means  of  subsistence  ;  and, 
if  poor  and  friendless,  he  will  be  unable  to  obtain  even  the 
liberty  of  the  prison  yard.  I  would  therefore  recommend 
that  no  debtor  should  hereafter  be  committed  to  prison,  either 
upon  mesne  process  or  execution,  unless  the  creditor,  at  the 
time  of  commitment,  shall  pay  the  cost  of  commitment,  and 
give  to  the  gaoler  ample  security  for  the  comfortable  support 
and  maintenance  of  the  prisoner  so  long  as  he  shall  be 
detained  by  him.  If  creditors  will  resort  to  the  severity  of 
depriving  debtors  of  their  personal  liberty,  it  is  reasonable 
that  they,  and  not  the  public  or  the  gaoler,  should  support 
them.  I  also  recommend  that  persons  committed,  either  on 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  473 

mesne  process  or  execution,  should  have  the  liberty,  as  soon 
as  they  are  imprisoned,  of  taking  the  poor  debtor's  oath,  after 
giving  reasonable  notice  to  the  creditor  of  their  intention.  I 
can  see  no  necessity  for  a  poor  man,  imprisoned  on  mesne 
process,  to  suffer  confinement  till  judgment  is  rendered  and 
execution  levied  on  him. 

"  The  time  appears  to  be  approaching,  when  imprisonment 
for  debt  will  no  longer  exist  in  any  case,  but  creditors  will 
consider  the  industry,  fidelity  and  property  of  their  debtors, 
and  not  the  power  of  depriving  them  of  liberty,  as  their  only 
real  and  sufficient  security.  To  make  so  great  a  change  at 
the  present  time,  might  be  attended  with  serious  inconven 
iences.  Reform,  to  be  useful  and  permanent,  must  be  gradual. 
As  many  persons  are  imprisoned  for  small  debts,  and  in  such 
cases  where  payment  is  enforced  by  that  means,  it  is  usually 
obtained,  not  from  the  debtors,  but  from  the  humanity  of  their 
friends  and  neighbors,  I  would,  therefore,  recommend  that 
the  bodies  of  debtors  should  not  be  liable,  for  any  debt  here 
after  contracted,  to  be  arrested  on  any  process  issuing  from  a 
justice  of  the  peace.  Let  frauds  in  concealing  property  sub 
ject  the  offender  to  punishment,  but  preserve,  as  far  as  may 
be,  the  personal  freedom  of  the  citizen ;  for  every  unneces 
sary  restraint  on  his  natural  liberty  is  a  degree  of  tyranny, 
which  no  wise  Legislature  will  inflict." 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  reasoning  here  goes 
the  full  length  of  the  total  abolition  of  imprisonment 
for  debt  in  all  cases ;  while  the  recommendation  is  of 
a  much  more  limited  measure.  When  reminded  of 
this  apparent  inconsistency,  he  replied  to  the 


474  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

objector,  who  was  a  clergyman,  with  the  text  of 
Solomon,  "A  prudent  man  concealeth  knowledge;" 
and  to  another  he  repeated,  without  condemning, 
what  Dugald  Stewart  calls  the  fine  and  deep  saying 
of  Fontenelle,  that  the  tuise  man,  if  lie  had  his  hand 
full  of  truths,  would  often  content  himself  with  opening  his 
little  finger.  "  They  will  run  out,"  he  said,  "  through 
even  this  small  aperture,  faster  than  men  will  gather 
them  up."  He  added :  "  If  you  only  move  in  the 
right  direction,  though  slow  at  first,  you  will  soon 
find  that  you  are  going  fast  enough."  The  event 
showed  that  he  was  not  mistaken  in  this  case.  I  was 
at  that  time  a  member  of  the  House ;  and  the  hard 
est  battle  we  had  to  fight,  during  the  session,  was  on 
this  bill  "  for  the  relief  of  poor  debtors."  It  was  with 
the  utmost  difficulty  that  even  the  moderate  measure, 
which  he  had  recommended,  was  carried ;  and  yet  it 
was  a  few  years  only  before  the  total  abolition  of 
imprisonment  for  debt  was  enacted  with  the  entire 
approbation  of  the  people.  It  has  since  been  abol 
ished  in  nearly  all  the  states. 

Another  subject  brought  by  the  Governor  before 
the  Legislature  was  the  proposal  of  Jeremy  Bentham 
"  to  submit  to  their  examination,  for  the  use  of  the 
state,  a  complete  code  of  laws,  founded  upon  enlight 
ened  principles  of  legislation."  "  The  great  import 
ance,"  he  added,  "  of  the  object,  and  the  peculiar 
talents  of  the  author,  render  the  subject  worthy  x>f 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  475 

your  mature  consideration."  This  offer  of  Mr. 
Bentham  was  not  confined  to  New  Hamsphire,  but 
was  extended  to  all  the  states.  The  very  modest 
request  made  by  him,  which  was  merely  that  the 
state  would  receive  and  examine  his  proposed  code, 
and,  when  so  examined,  adopt  or  reject  it  at  its 
pleasure,  with  the  express  declaration  that  he  would, 
in  no  event,  accept  any  compensation  for  his  labors, 
seemed  to  entitle  him,  at  least,  to  a  respectful  hear 
ing.  But  the  idea  that  an  old  man  in  London,  whose 
name  not  one  in  ten  of  the  members  had  ever 
heard,  should  be  employed  to  prepare  a  code  of  laws 
for  the  state,  struck  most  of  them  as  a  thing  so 
strange,  not  to  say  ridiculous,  that  the  proposal  was 
dismissed,  almost  without  debate.  Along  with  the 
official  letter  from  the  Governor,  informing  him  of 
the  fact,  I  sent  him  a  letter,  explaining,  with  as  much 
delicacy  as  I  could,  the  action  of  the  Legislature,  and 
the  probable  causes  of  the  rejection  of  his  disinter 
ested  and  generous  offer.  I  suggested  to  him,  at  the 
same  time,  the  propriety  of  giving  to  the  world 
the  results  of  his  labors  in  jurisprudence,  without 
waiting  for  any  such  invitation  from  a  Legislative 
Assembly,  as  he  had,  in  this  case,  sought  to  obtain. 
Mr.  Bentham,  in  reply,  invited  me  to  come  and 
spend  with  him,  "  at  his  hermitage  in  London,"  six 
months,  or  as  many  more  as  I  had  to  spare,  in  digest 
ing  and  drawing  out  such  a  code.  This  invitation  I 


476  LIFE     OP     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

respectfully  declined ;  not  only  because  I  was,  at  that 
time,  otherwise  occupied  in  the  public  service,  but 
as  not  feeling  myself  competent  to  a  task  of  so  much 
delicacy  and  importance. 

Before  meeting  the  Legislature  in  June,  Governor 
Plumer  had  made  up  his  mind  not  to  be  a  candidate 
for  re-election. 

"  The  cares  and  the  anxieties  of  the  office  of  Governor,"  he 
writes,  (May  30th,  1818,)  "oppress,  at  times,  my  mind,  and 
injure  my  health.  Placed  at  the  head  of  the  government,  it 
is  my  indispensable  duty  to  attend  to  all  its  concerns,  and,  in 
a  great  measure,  to  move  and  direct  its  operations.  This 
requires  a  degree  and  constancy  of  watchfulness  and  attention, 
which  my  feeble  health  is,  at  times,  not  able  to  sustain.  In 
thus  declining  a  re-election,  I  have  consulted  no  one,  except 
my  sons,  who,  for  months,  have  advised  me  to  it." 

Our  advice,  in  this  case,  was  founded  upon  the 
visible  injury  which  his  health  suffered  from  his 
extreme  anxiety  to  do  every  thing,  and  more  than 
every  thing,  which  the  duties  of  his  office  seemed  in 
the  remotest  degree,  to  require  of  him.  He  left 
nothing  to  subordinates,  but  did  every  thing  himself. 
Sick  or  well,  he  would  do  the  business  of  the  day 
within  the  day ;  for  to-morrow  would  bring  also  its 
duties,  which  he  might  then  be  less  able  to  perform. 
When  he  went  to  bed,  early  or  late,  his  table  was 
always  clear,  the  letters  all  answered,  the  commissions 


LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER.  477 

signed,  the  orders  issued.  At  the  same  time  his  love 
of  reading,  study  and  retirement,  was  unabated ; 
and  he  felt  restless  and  dissatisfied,  if  he  could  not 
devote  some  portion  of  each  day  to  his  books.  What 
troubled,  however,  his  frank  and  manly  nature  more 
than  the  mere  labors  of  his  place,  was  the  unceasing 
importunity  of  office-seekers.  He  was  wearied  and 
disgusted  at  the  daily  visits  of  men,  whom  he  must 
treat  civilly,  while  he  could  not  but  despise  them  in 
heart  for  their  meanness  and  servility.  Offices  for 
themselves  or  their  friends,  schemes  of  personal 
advancement,  how  to  raise  one  man,  and  keep  down 
another,  were  the  frequent  topics  of  long  discussions, 
in  which  he  was  bound  to  hear,  if  not  answer,  persons 
with  whom  he  had  little  sympathy,  and  for  whom  he 
had  less  respect.  When  he  was  well,  such  things  gave 
him  little  trouble ;  but,  in  ill  health,  they  wore  upon 
his  spirits,  and  disturbed  his  equanimity.  Under  these 
circumstances,  his  family  felt  that,  while  his  continu 
ance  in  office  could  confer  on  him  no  increase  of 
honors,  its  labors  were  manifestly  impairing  his 
health,  and  wasting  hours,  which  might  be  more 
pleasantly,  if  not  more  profitably,  employed. 

June  5th,  1818.  "This  evening,  Samuel  Bell  spent  two 
hours  with  me  in  my  chamber.  I  told  him  that  I  had  come 
to  the  resolution  not  to  be  again  a  candidate  for  the  office  I 
now  hold.  He  said  he  was  sorry  to  hear  it ;  that  the  confi 
dence  of  the  great  body  of  the  people  was  daily  increasing  in 


478  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

my  administration  ;  and  he  hoped  I  should  long  continue  to 
be  the  chief  magistrate.  I  replied  that  the  state  of  my 
health  could  not  permit  me  to  hold  an  office,  that  required 
my  personal  attendance  at  particular  times  and  places,  and 
whose  duties  claimed  from  me  such  unremitted  attention.  I 
told  him,  I  hoped  the  Republicans  would  unite  on  him  as 
their  candidate  ;  though  I  was  sorry  to  lose  his  services  on 
the  Bench.  After  much  conversation,  he  said  finally,  if  the 
Republicans  should  generally  agree  to  support  him,  he  would 
consent.  I  told  him  that  this  declaration  relieved  me  from 
much  anxiety.  He  then  said  that  it  was  now  his  turn  to 
make  a  request,  which  was  that  I  would  consent  to  be  Sen 
ator  in  Congress.  I  replied  that  no  office  pleased  me  better 
than  that  of  Governor  ;  and,  in  declining  that,  I  declined 
all  other  offices." 

I  may  here  add,  that,  at  the  request  of  many  of  his 
friends,  I  urged  him,  at  this  time,  to  be  a  candidate 
for  the  Senate.  His  reply  was:  "It  is  well  enough  to 
have  been  once  at  Washington.  There  is  much  to  be 
learned  there  which  can  be  nowhere  else  acquired ; 
but  a  second  term  would  give  me  less  pleasure  and 
less  profit  than  the  same  time  devoted  to  my  books. 
As  a  matter  of  duty,  I  have  already  taken  my  turn  • 
as  an  honor,  I  do  not  covet  it.  You  may  go  if  you 
will,  but  I  would  not  advise  it  now.  Law  first,  and 
politics  afterwards,  is  my  advice  to  every  young  man, 
who  would  be  either  lawyer  or  politician,  in  this  coun 
try."  I  need  hardly  add  that  this  sage  advice  was 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  479 

lost  on  me.  A  seat  in  Congress  is  seldom  declined 
by  a  young  man,  to  whom  it  comes  unsolicited  as 
unexpected. 

June  13th,  1818.  "  A  committee  informed  me  that,  at  a 
full  meeting  of  the  Republicans,  I  was  unanimously  nominated 
as  a  candidate  for  re-election  as  Governor.  I  answered  them 
that  the  ill  state  of  my  health  obliged  me  to  decline  the  honor, 
at  which  they  expressed  great  regret." 

June  23d.  "  The  Republicans  met  in  caucus.  After 
nominating  Bell  for  Governor,  they  balloted  for  a  candidate 
for  Senator.  Butler,  Livermore,  Storer,  and  I  were  voted 
for.  I  had  the  highest  number ;  and,  at  the  third  ballot, 
received  a  majority.  This  makes  it  necessary  for  me  to  settle 
the  course  that  it  will  be  proper  for  me  to  pursue.  The 
office  I  do  not  want ;  and,  if  elected,  I  cannot  accept  it.  But, 
if  I  withdraw  my  name,  Parrott  will  be  the  most  prominent 
Republican  candidate,  and  as  the  Federalists  will  unite  with 
the  Republican  minority,  he  cannot  in  that  event  be  elected. 
My  object  is  to  defeat  Butler.  I  shall,  therefore,  be  silent." 

June  24th.  "The  House  balloted  for  a  Senator.  The 
Federalists  voted  for  Jeremiah  Smith  ;  the  Republicans  were 
divided  between  Parrott  and  myself.  I  had,  at  the  first  vote, 
the  highest  number,  but  not  a  majority.  At  an  after  ballot, 
Parrott  was  elected ;  the  Federalists  voting,  as  I  supposed 
they  would  do,  for  the  minority  candidate." 

Though  he  had,  as  he  says,  remained  for  a  time 
silent,  it  was  generally  known  that  he  had  declined  the 
office,  or  he  would  undoubtedly  have  been  elected.  It 


480  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

is  to  be  regretted  that  he  was  not  chosen;  as  it  would 
have  added  to  his  life  six  years  of  interesting  public 
service,  without  injury  probably,  in  the  mild  climate 
of  Washington,  to  his  health.  In  a  letter,  after  the 
adjournment,  to  Salma  Hale,  he  says,  "  I  sincerely 
rejoice  that  I  was  not  elected  a  Senator  to  Con 
gress  ;  but  I  do  not  regret  my  being  considered  a 
candidate,  as  it  prevented  a  man  less  qualified  than 
Parrott  from  being  elected." 

June  26th,  1818.  "  I  was  so  ill  that  I  was  obliged,  about 
ten  o'clock,  to  take  my  bed,  and  was  unable  to  meet  the 
Council." 

27th.  "  In  the  morning  I  was  too  sick  for  business.  The 
Council  met  at  my  lodgings,  in  an  adjoining  chamber.  I 
alternately  met  with  them,  and  retired  and  reposed  on  my  bed. 
Nominated  Moses  C.  Pillsbury  for  the  office  of  Warden  of  the 
States'  Prison,  and  Roger  Vose  for  Chief  Justice  of  the  second 
judicial  district.  The  labors  of  the  day  fatigued  me ;  but  I 
was  able  to  drink  tea  with  the  boarders,  and  to  sleep  tolerably 
well  in  the  night." 

28th.  "My  health  is  feeble,  and  the  pain  in  my  limbs 
severe.  Mr.  Yose  called  upon  me.  He  said  he  was  gratified 
at  being  nominated  as  judge.  I  told  him,  that,  though  I  had 
a  friendship  for  him,  I  had  not  nominated  him  on  that 
account,  but  because  I  thought  the  public  interest  required 
his  services." 

29th.  "  Rose  early ;  debility  and  loss  of  appetite  great ; 
but  all  my  business  is  done,  and,  I  hope,  as  correctly  as  if 
my  health  had  been  good." 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  481 

30th.  "The  Council  met  me  at  my  lodgings,  at  five 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  We  completed  our  appointments ; 
and  I  signed  all  the  commissions.  I  approved  the  bill 
exempting  the  bodies  of  debtors  from  arrest  on  executions 
issued  from  justices  of  the  peace,  though  it  is  in  some  respects 
very  defective.  It  is  a  point  gained  in  favor  of  the  liberty  of 
the  person ;  and  its  defects  may  be  remedied  by  a  future 
Legislature.  The  lawyers  in  the  House  were  unitedly  opposed 
to  it.  Second  and  third  rate  lawyers,  as  many  of  these  are, 
make  bad  legislators.  At  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  at  the 
request  of  the  Legislature,  I  adjourned  the  two  Houses.  In 
the  afternoon  rode  to  Epsom ;  and  the  next  day  to  my  own 
house." 

Among  other  acknowledgments  of  his  message  to 
the  Legislature,  received  by  the  Governor,  was  the 
following  from  Mr.  Jefferson,  dated  June  21st,  1818  : 

"  Thomas  Jefferson  presents  his  compliments  to  Governor 
Plumer,  and  his  thanks  for  the  copy  of  his  message,  received 
yesterday.  It  is  replete,  as  usual,  with  principles  of  wisdom. 
Nothing  needs  correction  with  all  our  Legislatures  so  much  as 
the  unsound  principles  of  legislation  on  which  they  act  gener 
ally.  The  only  remedy  seems  to  be  in  an  improved  system  of 
education.  He  is  happy  in  every  occasion  of  saluting  Gov 
ernor  Plumer  with  friendship  and  respect." 

Mr.  Madison  wrote  on  the  same  occasion,  August 
10th: 


482  LIFE    OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

"I  cannot  doubt  that  the  motives  to  which  you  have 
yielded,  for  discontinuing  your  public  labors,  are  such  as 
justify  your  purpose.  In  anticipation  of  the  epoch  of  your 
return  to  private  life,  I  offer  my  best  wishes  for  the  health 
and  repose  necessary  for  its  enjoyments,  and  for  the  well 
chosen  pursuits  to  which  you  mean  to  consecrate  it ;  to 
which,  permit  me  to  add  assurances  of  my  high  esteem 
and  cordial  respects." 

The  following  is  from  Mr.  Plumer's  Diary,  under 
date  of  July  21st: 

"  Returned  from  Portsmouth,  where  I  spent  four  days  on 
a  visit  to  my  daughter.  Her  disease  will,  I  am  convinced, 
prove  fatal.  Yet  she  is  in  good  spirits,  and  exhibits  much 
patience  and  fortitude  under  sufferings  which  are  severe.  I 
visited,  and  was  visited  by,  a  number  of  the  gentlemen  of 
Portsmouth.  Among  these  was  Jeremiah  Mason.  He  said 
that  Bell  would  be  elected  Governor ;  but,  that  the  Superior 
Court  would  thereby  lose  its  backbone.  He  did  not  think 
Bell  would  be  able  to  manage  the  General  Court;  if  he, 
(Mason,)  were  Governor,  he  should  quarrel  with  them  in  a 
week,  they  were  so  impracticable.  Nothing,  he  said,  had 
more  surprised  him  than  the  influence  I  had  acquired  over 
them,  while,  at  the  same  time,  I  preserved  my  own  inde 
pendence.  He  said  many  of  the  appointments  I  had  made 
reflected  honor  on  the  state,  as  well  as  on  myself;  that  three 
more  men,  so  well  qualified  as  the  present  judges,  and  who 
would  accept  the  office,  could  not  be  found  in  the  state ;  and 
that  the  late  appointment  of  Vose  was  equally  judicious.  He 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  483 

had  not  expected  that  I  should  abandon  public  life,  when  my 
popularity  was  increasing,  and  a  re-election  depended  on 
myself  alone.  I  replied  that  the  state  of  my  health  required 
the  repose  of  private  life ;  and  that,  in  peaceable  times,  like 
the  present,  the  public  had  no  claim  on  the  service  of  a  man 
of  sixty." 

These  opinions  of  Mr.  Mason,  years  afterwards 
repeated  as  his  deliberate  judgment,  at  a  period" 
when  lie  could  have  no  motive  to  flatter  or  deceive, 
were  regarded  by  Governor  Plumer  as  among  the 
best  proofs  which  he  could  receive,  that  he  had  not 
labored  in  vain  in  the  public  service;  and  that  while 
he  knew,  better  than  any  one  else  could,  that  his 
motives  were  pure,  others  saw  that  his  measures 
were  beneficial,  and  his  course  of  policy  liberal 
and  judicious.  This  was  the  only  reward  which  he 
desired, — the  deliberate  approbation  of  an  enlight 
ened  community.  He  used  to  say,  that  he  cared 
little  about  present  popularity,  except  as  it  enabled 
him  to  act  with  more  effect  for  present  purposes  -,  in 
other  words,  except  as  it  was  an  instrument  of  power 
in  his  hands  for  the  public  good.  Ultimate  approba 
tion  could  rest  on  merit  only.  In  the  long  run,  men 
would  judge  him  fairly ;  in  the  mean  time,  nothing 
was  more  uncertain,  or  more  worthless,  than  the  cen 
sure  or  applause  of  the  day.  First  or  last,  every  man 
considerable  enough  to  be  remembered  after  his 
death,  would  be  duly  appreciated,  and  dealt  with  by 


484  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

the  world  according  to  his  deserts.  This  conviction 
made  him  indifferent  to  the  censures  of  the  ignorant 
who  mistook  him,  and  of  the  malicious  who  purposely 
misrepresented  or  maligned  him.  In  a  letter  to  Silas 
Betton,  who  wished  to  be  re-appointed  as  sheriff  of 
Buckingham,  he  said,  "  In  the  various  offices  I  have 
held,  I  have  sought  more  to  serve,  than  to  please  the 
people ;  and  I  trust  that  when  the  sod  is  green  over 
my  grave,  those  who  survive  me  will  say  that  in  all 
cases,  I  preferred  the  man  of  merit  to  the  political 
partisan.  Such,  at  least,  has  been  my  purpose,  from 
which  I  have  never  knowingly  departed."  It  was  in 
this  calm  confidence  of  ultimate  justice,  that  he  had 
lived  down  calumny  and  abuse,  and,  in  his  old  age, 
drew  around  him,  in  respectful  attendance,  many 
who,  at  an  earlier  period,  had  been  loud  in  their 
disapprobation  of  his  course. 

September  21st,  1818.  "  On  the  18th,  my  daughter  died — 
I  was  present — without  a  groan,  or  a  sigh.  From  the  time 
that  I  considered  her  disease  incurable,  I  have  not  wished  her 
life  to  be  protracted ;  because  it  was  to  her  but  an  increase  of 
suffering ;  and  I  am  now  reconciled  to  the  event." 

This  was  a  child  most  tenderly  loved  by  both 
parents,  and  was  mourned  till  the  close  of  their  lives. 
She  inherited  her  father's  literary  taste  and  talents 
to  a  great  degree.  Her  peculiar  sweetness  of  temper 
and  many  endearing  traits  made  her  the  idol  of  her 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  485 

family,  and  rendered  her  loss  irreparable.  She  was 
the  dearest  and  most  affectionate  of  friends  to  me ; 
our  thoughts,  our  studies,  and  our  feelings  were  inter 
woven  with  each  other.  If  I  felt  pleasure  in  any 
new  acquisition,  it  was  because  I  hoped  to  share  it 
with  her.  If  I  read  a  new  book  with  delight,  that 
delight  was  repeated,  and  redoubled  in  reading  it 
again  to  her.  I  cannot  express  how  much  I  have 
lost  by  her  death.  Many  of  my  most  pleasing  recol 
lections  are  connected  with  her.  The  sympathy  that 
subsisted  between  us  was  so  perfect,  that  her  pleasures 
were  mine,  my  joys  were  hers ;  our  griefs  and  our 
regrets  were  common,  our  sentiments,  our  opinions, 
our  tastes ;  what  one  felt  the  other  reciprocated. 

Governor  Plumer  met  the  Legislature,  for  the  last 
time,  at  the  close  of  his  official  year,  to  assist  in 
organizing  the  two  Houses,  and  to  see  his  successor 
inducted  into  office.  Before  finally  retiring  from  his 
post,  he  sent  a  message,  June  2d,  1819,  to  the  Legis 
lature,  giving  a  brief  account  of  his  official  conduct, 
and  of  the  principles  on  which  he  had  administered 
the  government.  We  quote  a  few  characteristic 
paragraphs  from  this  message  : 

(e  In  making  the  appointments  of  the  various  officers,  which 
the  constitution  and  laws  vest  in  the  Executive,  I  have  been 
frequently  embarrassed  and  perplexed.  The  greatest  imper 
fection  in  all  governments  arises  from  not  having  men  of 


486  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK. 

virtue  and  talents  to  carry  the  laws  into  execution.  Laws 
founded  in  wisdom  and  justice  require  men  of  knowledge  and 
integrity  for  their  correct  and  impartial  administration.  From 
the  nature  of  human  affairs  there  must  be  a  portion  of  discre 
tion  vested  in  executive  officers  ;  and  this  discretionary  power 
will  often  be  abused,  by  weak  men  from  ignorance,  and  by 
bad  men  from  design.  Hence  my  object  was  to  appoint  those 
men  to  office  who  were  best  qualified.  To  make  such  a 
selection  was  difficult.  I  was  not,  in  all  cases,  acquainted 
with  the  persons  best  qualified  for  places  of  trust ;  and  there 
fore,  in  some  instances,  was  obliged  to  act  upon  the  information 
of  others.  That  information,  in  general,  consisted  not  of  facts, 
but  of  opinions,  and  those  often  formed  under  the  influence  of 
interested  motives,  the  partiality  of  friendship,  personal  hos 
tility,  slight  acquaintance,  or  the  spirit  of  party  ;  and  of  course 
they  often  proved  incorrect.  Recommendations  and  petitions 
in  favor  of  candidates  for  particular  offices  have  frequently 
been  made ;  but  in  many  instances  it  afterwards  appeared, 
that  those  who  subscribed  the  recommendations  did  not  con 
sider  themselves  responsible  for  the  character  and  conduct 
of  those  whom  they  recommended.  Indeed,  instances  have 
occurred  when  those  who  recommended  the  successful  can 
didates,  have  been  the  first  to  join  the  disappointed  expectants,, 
in  censuring  the  Executive  for  making  such  appointments. 
The  candidates  for  office  themselves,  in  too  many  instances,  not 
satisfied  with  PROCURING  recommendations,  have  personally 
importuned  for  office ;  but  I  have  found  that  office-seekers 
were  not  always  the  best  qualified,  that  they  were  usually 
more  anxious  for  the  honors  and  emoluments  of  office  than  to 
promote  the  interest  of  the  public,  and  that  men  of  modest, 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  487 

unassuming  merit  ought  to  be  preferred.  To  my  regret, 
some  men  whom  I  considered  well  qualified,  declined  office. 
To  increase  these  embarrassments,  a  difference  of  opinion,  in 
a  few  instances,  existed  between  myself  and  a  majority  of  the 
Council,  respecting  the  qualifications  of  certain  individuals  for 
office.  When  this  happened,  as  it  was  necessary  to  fill  the 
vacancy,  if  the  Council  declined  to  agree  with  me,  I  thought 
myself  bound  to  consent  to  their  nomination.  In  such  cases 
I  was  considered  by  the  people  responsible  for  appointments, 
which  I  should  not  otherwise  have  made. 

"  During  the  time  I  was  in  office,  an  unusual  number  of 
appointments  were  to  be  made,  including  all  the  judges  of 
the  courts  of  law,  those  of  probate  excepted ;  the  sheriffs  of 
four  counties;  most  of  the  justices  of  the  peace,  and  nearly 
all  the  militia  officers  of  the  state. 

"In  appointing  judges,  it  was  my  sole  object  to  select 
men  of  talents,  of  legal  information,  of  strict  integrity,  and 
such  as  I  deemed  best  qualified  for  those  important  trusts. 
And  with,  a  view  to  exclude,  as  far  as  practicable,  the  spirit  of 
party  from  the  temple  of  justice,  and  to  inspire  a  general  con 
fidence  in  the  courts  of  law,  in  which  every  citizen  has  a  deep 
interest,  I  appointed  men  of  different  political  principles. 

"  As  offices  are  created  for  the  benefit  of  the  people,  and 
not  for  the  honor  and  emolument  of  the  officers,  and  as  their 
unnecessary  increase  has  a  tendency  to  impair  the  responsi 
bility  of  the  officer,  and  render  the  office  less  respectable,  it 
has  been  my  object  not  to  increase  the  number  of  justices  of 
peace  beyond  the  limits  which  the  public  interest  required. 

"As  some  towns  appeared  to  have  a  greater  number  of 
justices  than  was  either  necessary  or  useful,  soon  after  I  came 


488  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

into  office  I  declined  renewing  some  of  their  commissions  ;  but 
reflection  and  experience  convinced  me  that  this  course  would 
be  injurious,  as  the  commissions  of  some  of  the  justices  who 
were  best  qualified  expired  first,  and  if  not  renewed,  the  com 
munity  would  be  deprived  of  their  services.  On  maturely  con 
sidering  the  subject,  I  came  to  the  resolution  to  renew  the  com 
missions  of  all  justices  whose  term  expired,  except  those  who, 
by  infirmity  of  age  or  mental  derangement,  were  incapable  of 
performing  the  duties  of  the  office,  those  who  encouraged  and 
promoted  litigation,  were  intemperate  or  guilty  of  gross 
immorality ;  sheriffs,  and  recently  their  deputies ;  persons 
who  had  removed  into  a  town  in  which  there  were  before  a 
sufficient  number ;  and  those  the  certificate  of  whose  oaths  of 
office  had  not,  during  the  preceding  five  years,  been  returned 
to  the  Secretary's  office. 

"  The  Constitution  seems  to  imply  that,  if  the  judges  of  the 
Superior  Court  were  justices  of  the  peace,  they  should  be 
throughout  the  state,  and  I  accordingly  appointed  them  such. 
But  during  the  last  three  years  I  declined  appointing  any 
others  of  that  grade,  except  the  Chief  Justices  of  the  Courts  of 
Common  Pleas,  and  renewing  those  whose  commissions 
expired ;  because  I  could  discover  but  little  duty  for  them 
to  perform,  and  the  number  already  in  office  was  sufficient 
for  that  purpose. 

"  In  the  appointment  of  new  justices  of  the  peace,  I  made  it 
a  rule  not  to  appoint  in  any  town  more  than  one  to  three 
hundred  inhabitants,  except  where  peculiar  circumstances 
rendered  it  necessary.  Though  this  rule  leaves  the  num 
ber  greater  than  what  is  requisite,  I  considered  that  reform, 
to  be  permanent,  must  be  gradual  j  I  was^  therefore,  content 


LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER.  489 

with,  diminishing  an  evil  which  I  could  not  wholly  remove. 
On  the  first  of  June,  1816,  the  number  of  justices  of  the 
peace  in  the  state  was  nine  hundred  and  eighty-four ;  it  is 
now  reduced  to  eight  hundred  and  three. 

"  As  the  Constitution  excludes  a  person  holding  the  office 
of  judge,  attorney-general,  or  sheriff  from  a  seat  in  the  Coun 
cil,  there  appeared  to  me  an  impropriety  in  appointing  Coun 
cillors  to  either  of  those  offices.  Such  an  appointment  would 
deprive  the  state  of  a  member  of  the  Executive  board,  or 
subject  the  people  to  the  expense  of  new  meetings  to  elect 
another,  and  the  state  to  the  charge  of  an  extra  session  of  the 
Legislature  to  receive  and  count  the  votes.  On  that  account, 
and,  as  far  as  I  was  able,  to  preserve  the  independence  of  the 
Council,  I  have  uniformly  declined  appointing  a  Councillor  to 
any  office  which,  if  accepted,  would  have  excluded  him  from 
the  board. 

"Upon  the  subject  of  granting  pardons  to  persons  con 
victed  of  public  offences,  I  never  considered  myself  at  liberty 
to  revise,  or  question  the  propriety  of  the  opinion  of  the 
court  which  rendered  the  judgment.  The  courts  of  law 
are  the  only  tribunals  competent  to  pronounce  upon  the 
innocence  or  guilt  of  the  accused  ;  and  their  decision  ought  to 
be  conclusive.  As  our  currency  consists  principally  of  paper 
bills,  as  much  of  our  property  depends  upon  the  validity  of 
written  instruments,  and  as  forgery  is  a  crime  which  neces 
sarily  includes  much  turpitude  of  heart,  and  is  attended  with 
serious  evils  to  society,  I  have  uniformly  declined  pardoning 
any  of  that  class  of  offenders.  I  have  granted  pardons  but  in 
a  few  cases ;  and  those  only  to  convicts  who  were  insane,  or 
approached  a  state  of  idiocy ;  and  to  those  who,  being  impris- 


490  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

oned  for  theft,  were,  before  their  term  had  expired,  visited 
with  sickness,  which,  for  want  of  free  air  and  better  accommo 
dations,  it  appeared  probable  would  terminate  in  death — a 
punishment  which  the  law  did  not  intend  to  inflict. 

"  By  the  law  of  the  87th  of  June  last,  the  concerns  of  the 
State  Prison  were  committed  to  the  Governor  and  Council, 
and  provision  made  that  they  should  have  a  suitable  compen 
sation  for  those  additional  services.  In  relation  to  myself,  I 
request  that  you  would  make  no  grant  to  me  on  that  account. 
I  am  satisfied  with  the  reward  I  have  received  ;  it  is  adequate 
to  the  services  I  have  rendered.  I  never  accepted  office  for 
tr_e  sake  of  its  emoluments.  The  great  object  of  my  official 
labors  has  been  to  promote  the  interest  and  prosperity  of  the 
state,  not  those  of  any  religious  sect  or  political  party.  I 
have,  whenever  they  came  in  collision,  preferred  the  public 
to  my  private  interest ;  and  been  more  anxious  to  serve  than 
to  please  the  people.  But  how  far  my  efforts  have  succeeded, 
it  is  for  others  to  decide.  I  am  satisfied  with  the  honors  of 
office,  without  being  disgusted  with  its  duties ;  and  having 
rendered  this  account  of  my  administration,  I  retire  to  private 
life,  to  share,  in  common  with  my  fellow-citizens,  the  effects, 
prosperous  or  adverse,  of  my  official  measures. 

June  2,  1819.  "WILLIAM  PLTJMER." 

The  frequent  use  of  the  veto  power,  fourteen  times 
in  four  years,  grew  out  of  his  deep  sense  of  personal 
responsibility.  That  a  bill  had  passed  both  Houses  of 
the  Legislature  by  a  unanimous  vote,  was,  with  him, 
no  reason  why  he,  as  Governor,  should,  by  signing  it, 
make  it  a  law.  His  duty  was,  if  it  did  not  approve 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  491 

itself  to  his  own  judgment  as  right,  to  return  it  with 
his  objections.  It  was  for  him  no  sufficient  reason 
that  others  thought  it  right.  He  must  act  on  his  own 
responsibility,  as  they  had  done  on  theirs.  There 
was,  therefore,  in  these  veto  messages,  no  arrogant 
assumption  of  superiority,  on  the  one  hand,  as  if  he 
knew  more  than  they ;  and,  on  the  other,  no  affected 
humility,  in  the  exercise  of  an  acknowledged  right, 
or  rather  in  the  discharge  of  a  duty  which  required 
no  apology  for  its  performance. 

June  4th,  1819.  "I  attended  the  Council,  and  adminis 
tered  the  oath  to  the  two  remaining  Councillors.  This  is  my 
last  official  act.  Samuel  Bell  is  elected  my  successor  by  a 
majority  of  about  sixteen  hundred  votes." 

June  5th.  "  I  parted  with  the  Governor,  and  the  gentle 
men  with  whom  I  had  been  for  some  time  associated,  with 
regret.  It  required  an  effort  to  suppress  my  feelings,  and 
preserve  the  natural  tone  of  my  voice." 

His  friends  had  requested  leave  to  form  an  escort, 
to  accompany  him  to  his  home ;  but  he  declined  this 
honor,  as  undesirable  to  him  while  in  office,  and 
improper  now  that  he  was  a  private  citizen.  He 
could  not,  however,  prevent  the  leading  men  of  both 
political  parties  from  accompanying  him  a  short  dis 
tance  out  of  the  town.  On  riding  out  of  sight  of 
these  kind  friends,  from  whom  he  did  not  part  with 
out  strong  emotions,  he  congratulated  himself  on  his 


492  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

final  escape  from  the  cares  and  anxieties  of  public 
life,  and  adverted  with  just  satisfaction  to  the  general 
good  will  and  respect  with  which  he  was  now 
regarded,  even  by  those  who  had,  at  first,  treated 
him  with  rudeness  and  contumely.  He  claimed  no 
other  merit  than  that  of  good  intentions ;  and  desired, 
he  said,  no  other  reward  than  the  consciousness, 
which  he  then  felt,  of  having  done,  in  all  cases,  what, 
at  the  time,  he  regarded  as  his  duty.  In  this  quiet 
ride,  on  that  beautiful  June  morning,  along  the 
plain,  and  through  the  dark  pines  which  border  the 
Merrimack,  he  dwelt,  with  glowing  enthusiasm,  on 
the  peaceful  retreat,  where,  in  the  society  of  his 
friends,  in  the  study  of  his  books,  and  the  use  of  his 
pen,  he  hoped  to  pass  the  evening  of  his  life,  undis 
turbed  by  the  storms  which  had  darkened  its  morning 
and  mid-day  course.  As  I  sat  silent  at  his  side,  in 
deep  sympathy  with  his  feelings,  I  had  never  seen 
him  more  buoyant  in  thought,  or  happier  in  his  antic 
ipations  of  the  future.  We  reached  home  to  a  late 
dinner,  and  amidst  the  smiles  and  caresses  of  his  wife 
and  children,  the  veteran  soldier  felt  that,  after  more 
than  thirty  years'  service,  he  had  received  an  honor 
able  discharge,  and  might  now  hang  up  his  arms,  and 
repose  in  peace,  no  longer  to  be  roused  by  the  daily 
reveille,  nor  summoned  needlessly  to  the  onset  at  the 
call  of  party  leaders.  Life  to  him  was  indeed  thence 
forth  to  be  a  march,  with  ported  arms,  along  the 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  493 

region  which  leads  silently  downwards  through  the 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  death, — awful  to  many,  but 
which  had  in  it  no  terrors  for  him. 

"  I  might/'  he  writes,  (June  7th,)  "  if  I  had  wished  it, 
have  continued  longer  in  office ;  but  its  cares  and  anxieties 
would  have  worn  down  and  enfeebled  my  mental  powers,  and, 
without  my  perceiving  their  decay,  my  measures  would  have 
become  more  timid,  less  vigorous,  less  useful ;  and  my  repu 
tation,  as  a  public  man,  would  have  declined.  I  have,  there 
fore,  seasonably  exchanged  the  duties  of  a  sentinel  for  those 
of  a  private  citizen." 

From  the  retreat,  so  early  selected  and  so  long 
cherished,  he  was  only  once,  and  that  for  a  single 
day,  afterwards  withdrawn.  In  1820,  he  was  chosen 
one  of  the  Electors  of  President  and  Vice  President 
of  the  United  States.  His  name  had  been  placed  at 
the  head  of  the  list,  without  his  being  consulted  as 
to  whether  he  would  serve,  or  how  he  would  vote. 
It  was  on  the  occasion  of  Mr.  Monroe's  second  elec 
tion.  Governor  Plumer  did  not  regard  himself  in 
this,  more  than  in  other  acts  of  his  life,  as  the  tool  of 
a  party,  or  the  mere  exponent  of  other  men's 
opinions.  By  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution,  the 
people  choose  the  Electors;  and  it  is  the  duty  of  those 
Electors  to  choose  the  President.  In  the  exercise  of 
this  duty,  he  voted  for  John  Quincy  Adams,  instead 
of  James  Monroe,  who  received  every  other  electoral 


494  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLTJMER. 

vote  in  the  Union.     This  single  vote  against  Monroe 
(for  it  was  regarded  chiefly  in  that  light)   excited 
much  wonder,  and  some  censure,  at  the  time.     It, 
however,  created  no  surprise  in  those  who  knew  him, 
as  it  was  the  natural  result  of  his  general  rule  of 
independent    action,    combined    with    his    avowed 
opinions  respecting  some  of  the  leading  measures  of 
Mr.  Monroe's   administration.       His  first  legislative 
act,  thirty-five  years  before,  had  been  the  signing  of 
a  protest,  which  no  one  else  signed,  against  an  act, 
which  the  court  soon  after  pronounced  unconstitu 
tional  ;  and  now,  at  the  close  of  his  public  life,  his 
last  official  act  was  the  voting,  as  an  Elector,  for  a 
man,  for  whom  no  one  else  then  voted,  but  who  was 
at  the  next  election  chosen  President.     He  thought 
Mr.  Monroe's  capacity  by  no  means  equal  to  the 
place.     "  We  mistake,"  he  said,  "  if  we  suppose  that 
any  but  the  ablest  men  are  fit  for  the  highest  place. 
The  government  of  weak  men  must  always  be  disas 
trous.  '  Wo  to  thee,  0  land,  ivlicn  thy  Idng  is  a  child."7  He 
was  influenced  in  part,  perhaps,  by  a  desire  to  draw 
attention   to  his  friend  Adams,  whom  he  thus  first 
nominated  for  the  Presidency ;  but  more  by  his  dis 
approbation  of  what  he  regarded  as   the   wasteful 
extravagance  of  the  public  expenditure,  during  Mon 
roe's  first  term  of  service ;  which,  instead  of  paying 
the  public  debt,  had  compelled  a  resort  to  loans  in  a 
time  of  peace.      "  I  see,"  he  said,  in  a  letter  of  an 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  495 

earlier  date,  to  Salma  Hale,  u  the  same  spirit  of  pro 
fusion  and  waste  in  granting  the  public  money  here, 
as  in  England.  The  expense  of  our  army  and  navy, 
in  proportion  to  numbers,  exceeds  that  of  any  nation 
on  the  earth.  The  expense  of  our  Legislature  has  no 
parallel  in  any  other  country ;  and  our  pension  sys 
tem  seems  intended  as  a  bounty  to  encourage  idleness 
and  want  of  economy." 

This  dissatisfaction  with  the  course  of  public  events 
was  by  no  means  confined  to  Governor  Plumer.  I 
was  in  Congress  at  the  time,  and  saw  much  of  it  in 
that  body.  I  received  many  congratulations  on  this 
vote  of  my  father,  from  such  men  as  Randolph, 
Macon,  and  other  Republicans  of  the  old  school.  Not 
that  they  liked  Adams,  (Randolph  assailed  him  with 
the  fury  of  hereditary  hate);  but  they  disliked  Men- 
roe,  whom  they  regarded  as  having  adopted,  chiefly 
under  the  influence  of  Calhoun,  some  of  the  worst 
heresies  of  the  old  Federal  party.  Randolph  said  in 
the  House,  with  his  usual  felicity  of  sarcastic  expres 
sion  :  "  They  talk  of  the  unanimity  of  his  re-election. 
Yes,  sir ;  but  it  is  the  unanimity  of  indifference,  and 
not  of  approbation.  Four  years  hence,  he  will  go 
out,  with  equal  unanimity ;  and  the  feeling  will  then 
be,  not  indifference,  but  contempt."  This  bitter  proph 
ecy  was,  in  some  measure,  verified,  by  the  almost 
total  oblivion  into  which  Mr.  Monroe  fell,  amidst  the 
din  of  the  contest  which  preceded  and  followed  the 


496  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

election  of  his  successor.  Forgotten  even  before  he 
left  the  White  House,  he  was  remembered  afterwards, 
for  a  moment  only,  as  an  humble  suppliant  for  the 
bounty  of  Congress,  on  one  of  whose  most  important 
acts  he  had,  just  before,  put  his  veto. 


CHAPTER     XIII. 

OLD   AGE. 

THE  remaining  thirty  years  of  Mr.  Plumer's  life  fur 
nish  few  incidents  for  biography.  They  were  passed 
in  study  rather  than  in  action.  After  a  few  weeks  of 
relaxation,  he  began  to  cast  about  him  for  some  new 
employment.  He  thought  at  first  of  resuming  his 
historical  labors ;  but  the  reasons  which  had  formerly 
seemed  conclusive  against  the  further  prosecution  of 
that  design,  were  now  strengthened  by  the  considera 
tion  of  his  feeble  health  and  his  advanced  age.  He 
was  unwilling,  however,  to  leave  wholly  unused  the 
materials  collected,  and  the  stores  of  knowledge 
which  he  had  accumulated.  Abandoning,  therefore, 
the  idea  of  writing  a  History  of  the  United  States,  he 
determined  to  devote  his  leisure  to  the  composition 
of  a  work  which  he  entitled  "  Sketches  of  American 
Biography." 

While  prosecuting  these  inquiries,  and  as  a  relaxa 
tion  from  them,  he  wrote  and  published  in  the  news 
papers,  a  series  of  Essays,  under  the  signature  of 
Cincinnatus,  which  had  a  wide  circulation,  and 
attracted  much  attention.  They  amounted  in  all  to 


498  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK. 

one  hundred  and  eighty-six  numbers,  furnishing 
matter  sufficient  for  two  or  three  volumes,  and 
extending,  in  point  of  time,  from  May  10th,  1820,  to 
August  6th,  1829.  Among  the  subjects  treated  of  in 
these  Essays,  were  the  Freedom  of  the  Press,  Hard 
Times,  Speculation,  Intemperance,  Industry  and  Idle 
ness,  Virtue  and  Happiness,  Gaming,  Lotteries, 
Extravagance  in  Dress,  Furniture  and  Living,  Insanity, 
Education,  Agriculture,  Roads,  Government,  Com 
merce,  Manufactures,  Banks,  Paupers,  Slavery,  Taxa 
tion,  Public  Debts,  Wars,  the  Army,  the  Navy,  the  Mili 
tia,  Pensions,  Schools  and  Colleges,  the  Professions  of 
Law,  Medicine,  and  Divinity.  In  answer  to  the 
inquiries  which  a  reader  naturally  makes  as  to  an 
anonymous  writer,  he  says,  in  his  first  number : 
66  My  name  can  neither  add  to,  nor  detract  from,  the 
authority  of  my  writings.  My  politics  are  Republi 
can,  and  my  religion  liberal.  My  motive  is  the 
public  good."  He  was  not,  however,  studious  of  con 
cealment.  His  style,  indeed,  and  his  tone  of  thought 
and  feeling,  were  so  peculiarly  his  own,  that  he  seldom 
published  any  thing,  which  was  not  at  once  recog 
nized  by  those  who  took  an  interest  in  his  produc 
tions.  He  gave,  on  this  occasion,  as  the  reason  for 
his  mode  of  publication,  that  a  hundred  read  a  news 
paper  for  one  who  examines  either  large  pamphlets, 
or  ponderous  volumes ;  and  that,  his  object  being  to 
reach  the  mass  of  the  people,  and  not  the  learned 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  499 

few,  he  had  sought  his  audience  where  alone  he  was 
sure  to  find  it.  His  main  purpose  was  indeed  to 
impart  useful  information  and  practical  wisdom, — to 
recommend  prudence,  economy,  integrity,  and  the 
social  virtues,  to  the  great  mass  of  the  people,  in  all 
conditions  and  occupations  of  life.  Like  Franklin,  in 
writings  having  the  same  object,  he  often  descends, 
in  these  essays,  to  minute  details  and  homely  objects, 
certain  that  he  could  not  be  ill  employed  in  the 
pursuit  of  useful  knowledge,  or  too  precise  in  its 
communication.  Some  of  the  essays,  especially  those 
on  education,  agriculture,  and  government,  are  full 
and  elaborate,  and  may  almost  aspire  to  the  dignity  of 
finished  treatises  on  these  subjects.  Others,  less 
extended,  contain,  in  many  cases,  comprehensive  sur 
veys  of  their  subjects,  and  abound  in  acute  remarks, 
in  plain  statements  of  important  facts,  and  in  well 
considered  opinions,  clearly  and  strongly  expressed. 
The  essays  on  agriculture  embrace  nearly  the  whole 
circle  of  our  New  England  methods,  and  are  equal, 
if  not  superior,  to  any  thing  since  written  on  the 
subject,  except  so  far  as  the  application  of  chemistry 
to  agriculture,  then  hardly  made  among  us,  has 
enabled  later  writers  to  give  a  reason,  in  some  cases, 
for  practices  whose  utility  he  could  support  only  by 
an  appeal  to  experience.  The  essays  on  government 
contain  an  account  of  our  American  forms  of  govern 
ment,  state  and  national,  and,  to  a  considerable  extent, 


500  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

a  history  of  their  administration,  with  remarks  on  the 
errors  and  abuses  to  which  they  are  exposed,  and 
suggestions  for  their  correction  and  improvement. 
The  essays  on  education  are  practical  in  their  charac 
ter,  and  sagacious  in  their  views  and  suggestions. 

The  plan  of  his  biographical  work,  to  which  he 
now  devoted  himself,  was  to  give,  not  in  the  form  of 
a  dictionary,  but  chronologically  arranged  according 
to  the  date  of  each  man's  death,  a  sketch  of  dis 
tinguished  Americans,  in  every  department  of  life  and 
action,  from  the  first  settlement  of  the  country  to  his 
own  time.  It  was  not  his  object  to  supersede  (if 
that  could  have  been  done)  the  separate  lives  of 
eminent  men  which  we  already  possess,  but  to  give, 
in  a  clear  and  succinct  narrative,  the  facts  and  dates 
relating  to  all  persons  considerable  enough  to  fill  a 
place,  however  humble,  in  the  history  of  the  country. 
A  reader,  for  example,  finds,  in  some  work  he  is 
examining,  mention  made,  perhaps  incidentally,  of 
an  individual  respecting  whom  he  wishes  to  know 
more  than  is  there  told.  He  turns  to  the  Sketches  ; 
and  he  finds,  in  a  few  pages,  unincumbered  with  use 
less  details,  the  facts  and  dates  of  his  life,  all,  in 
short,  that  is  known  respecting  him,  chronologically 
arranged,  with  a  brief  sketch  of  character,  drawn  up, 
as  he  said,  "without  eulogy  on  the  one  hand,  or 
detraction  on  the  other."  In  such  a  work,  some 
men's  lives  would  furnish  matter  for  forty  or  fifty 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK.  501 

pages ;  others,  for  a  few  lines  only.  No  date,  which 
could  be  settled,  was  to  be  left  unascertained,  and  no 
fact  bearing  on  the  history  of  the  United  States,  unre 
corded.  The  work  was  to  embrace  the  whole  country 
within  the  limits  of  the  Union,  and  the  entire  period 
from  its  first  discovery  to  the  time  of  publication.  To 
every  reader  of  biography,  or  student  in  history,  such 
a  work,  if  adequately  executed,  would  be  an  invalu 
able  assistant, — a  methodical  abstract  and  compen 
dium  of  American  history  and  biography. 

As  early  as  1808,  he  had  sketched,  for  his  own 
amusement,  the  characters  of  some  public  men  with 
whom  he  was  personally  acquainted ;  but  it  was  not 
till  1819,  that  he  began  to  devote  his  leisure  from 
other  occupations  to  preparing  for  the  work  here 
described.  He  began  by  collecting  materials  from 
all  quarters,  writing  letters  to  the  friends  of  deceased 
public  men,  and  examining  and  making  references  to 
all  the  books,  pamphlets,  public  documents,  news 
papers,  and  other  sources  of  information  within  his 
reach.  His  own  collection  of  such  materials  was 
probably  the  largest  in  the  country.  The  earliest 
of  these  sketches,  which  I  find  among  his  papers, 
bears  date  November  28th,  1827;  the  latest,  April 
24th,  1843.  Their  whole  number  is  one  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  fifty-two.  They  would  form,  if 
published,  seven  or  eight  closely  printed  octavo 


502  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

volumes.  He  had  selected  the  names  of  many 
hundred  individuals  more,  respecting  whom  he  had 
made  references  and  gathered  materials,  but  had 
made  no  further  progress  in  their  biographies.  These 
references,  and  this  mass  of  materials,  embrace  the 
whole  circuit  of  American  history  and  biography ; 
and  it  would  have  required  many  years  of  industrious 
application  to  fill  up  even  their  modest  outlines.  It 
was,  indeed,  the  labor  of  a  life,  and  should  have  been 
commenced  only  in  the  first  vigor  of  manhood.  With 
his  industry  and  perseverance,  it  would,  if  so  begun, 
have  ended  in  the  production  of  a  work  of  compre 
hensive  information  and  enduring  value.  As  it  is,  it 
wants  the  hand  of  some  competent  compiler  to  put  it 
into  shape,  and  to  complete  the  original  design.  To 
the  author  it  was,  for  years,  an  object  of  pleasing 
contemplation,  and  of  unexhausted  and  inexhaustible 
occupation.  With  this  work  before  him,  time  never 
hung  heavy  on  his  hands.  The  calls  of  company, 
the  society  of  his  friends,  the  circle  of  his  domestic 
avocations,  found  him  ever  ready  for  the  duty  or 
the  business  of  the  day,  whatever  that  might  be ; 
but  equally  ready  to  turn  from  these  to  his  books 
and  his  pen,  for  the  piling  up,  month  after  month, 
and  year  after  year,  of  these  memorials  of  the  past, 
and  mementos  for  the  future.  Happy  in  his  em 
ployment,  he  viewed  the  swelling  heap  with  more 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEE.  503 

than  the  miser's  pleasure  in  his  hoarded  gold,  and 
looked  forward  to  its  completion  as  the  crowning 
achievement  of  his  life. 

His  own  approach  to  old  age  having  drawn  his 
attention  to  the  subject,  he  published,  (July  18th, 
1823,)  a  short  essay  on  Longevity,  in  which  he  gives 
many  interesting  statements  respecting  the  causes  of 
long  life,  the  effects  of  climate,  occupation,  and  profes 
sion,  labor  and  exercise,  temperance  in  meats  and 
drinks,  the  habit  of  early  or  late  rising,  temper, 
country  or  city  residence,  and  other  conditions  con 
nected  with  health  and  longevity.  He  continued 
his  inquiries  on  this  subject,  and  had  collected,  before 
his  death,  the  names  and  some  account  of  about  six 
hundred  persons,  who  had  reached  the  age  of  ninety 
years  and  upwards.  A  portion  of  them  were  pub 
lished  by  Dr.  J.  E.  Worcester,  in  the  "  Memoirs  of  the 
American  Academy." 

Mr.  Plumer  also  wrote,  February,  1824,  and  pub 
lished,  in  the  New  Hampshire  Historical  Society's 
Collections,  "Remarks  on  the  Authenticity  of  the 
Wheelwright  Deed,"  which  had  become  a  subject  of 
dispute  among  New  England  antiquaries.  On  this 
subject,  he  wrote,  (March  19th,  1824,)  to  John 
Farmer  : 

"  I  still  think  there  is  more  evidence  of  its  authenticity 
than  that  it  was  forged.  Objections  may  be  stated  to  ancient 
documents,  which  it  is  impossible,  after  the  lapse  of  two  cen- 


504  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

turies,  to  obviate,  and  yet  the  papers  may  be  genuine.  The 
Declaration  of  Independence  purports  to  have  been  signed  at 
Philadelphia  on  the  4th  of  July,  1776,  by  those  who  were 
then  delegates  in  Congress.  Yet  it  bears  the  names  of  seve 
ral  persons,  who,  as  appears  by  the  Journals,  were  not,  till 
many  months  after,  members  of  Congress  ;  and  a  recurrence 
to  the  records  of  the  states  to  which  these  persons  belonged 
will  show  that  they  were,  at  that  time,  in  office  at  home,  and 
not  present  in  Philadelphia.  Suppose,  two  centuries  hence, 
it  should  be  said  that  the  names  so  affixed  were  forged,  it 
might,  at  that  distant  time,  be  difficult  to  disprove  the  allega 
tion.  The  Journals  of  Congress  do  not  contain  the  informa 
tion  necessary  to  explain  the  facts  ;  but  many  who  are  now 
living  know  that,  for  some  time  after  the  4th  of  July,  new 
members  of  Congress  were  required,  on  taking  their  seats,  to 
sign  the  Declaration,  though  it  had  been  issued  previous  to 
their  appointment.  This  is  a  fact  which  I  do  not  recollect  to 
have  seen  stated  in  any  history  of  that  period.  Ancient  deeds 
so  far  prove  themselves,  that  they  throw  the  burden  of  proof 
on  those  who  deny  them.  There  are  objections  to  this  Indian 
deed,  which  cannot,  perhaps,  be  fully  explained ;  but  I  think 
the  evidence,  on  the  whole,  preponderates  in  favor  of  its 
authenticity." 

These  remarks  led  afterwards  to  an  elaborate 
examination  of  the  question  by  Savage,  in  his  first 
edition  of  Winthrop's  Journal.  On  reading  this  article. 
Mr.  Plumer  said,  in  his  Journal,  (Aug.  16th,  1825 :) 

"  His  observations  upon  my  remarks  on  the  Indian  deed  to 
Wheelwright  are  written  with  more  asperity  than  the  occasion 


LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER.  505 

required.  Some  of  his  arguments  are  more  specious  than 
substantial,  and  may  be  easily  refuted.  At  this  distance  from 
the  date,  it  is  difficult  to  settle  conclusively  the  question 
whether  the  deed  is  genuine  or  not.  Much  may  be  said  on 
both  sides  ;  but  I  have  neither  time  nor  inclination  further  to 
investigate  the  subject." 

Some  of  Mr.  Savage's  arguments  are  certainly  very 
strong,  and  seem  not  easy  to  be  refuted  •  yet  it  is 
said  that  certain  documents,,  recently  discovered,  go 
to  establish  the  authenticity  of  that  much  disputed 
deed.  I  have  not  seen  them. 

To  John  Q.  Adams,  Mr.  PI  inner  writes.  (February 
13th,  1829  :) 

"  I  have  long  been  convinced  that  the  great  secret  of 
human  happiness  is  not  to  suffer  our  energies  to  stagnate. 
Our  pleasure  consists  in  action  more  than  in  rest.  I  never 
enjoyed  life  better  than  I  now  do,  in  a  state  of  retirement 
from  the  world.  I  feel  a  deep  interest  in  my  literary  under 
takings  ;  and  if  they  should  not  prove  useful  to  others,  they 
will  have  served  at  least  to  smooth  for  me  the  passage  down 
the  vale  of  declining  years.  It  would,  indeed,  be  a  gratifica 
tion,  if  I  could  live  to  complete  and  publish  the  work ;  but 
this  is  not  probable." 

It  would  be  easy  to  multiply  from  his  papers 
evidences  of  the  unwearied  perseverance  with  which, 
under  the  weight  of  increasing  years,  Mr.  Plumer 


506  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

continued  to  pursue  his  literary  labors.  The  last  Life 
which  he  attempted,  and  which,  if  completed,  would 
have  been  one  of  the  most  elaborate  of  the  series,  was 
that  of  Thomas  Jefferson.  His  own  personal  recol 
lections  furnished  him  with  many  interesting  facts 
and  traits  of  character;  and  he  had  gone  carefully 
over  the  wide  range  of  his  books,  pamphlets,  news 
papers  and  public  documents,  to  collect  materials  for 
the  intended  memoir.  But  the  labor  of  preparation 
seems  to  have  well-nigh  exhausted  whatever  of 
strength  remained  to  him  for  the  task.  After  writing 
eight  or  ten  pages  of  the  biography,  he  dropped  the 
pen,  (April  24th,  1843,)  never  to  be  again  resumed 
in  the  same  service.  He  continued,  indeed,  as  if  by 
the  force  of  a  habit  too  firmly  fixed  to  be  easily  dis 
continued,  to  take  minutes  of  his  reading,  and  to 
make  references,  as  late  as  November  28th,  1848,  and 
perhaps  later ;  but  he  attempted  no  more  Sketches 
of  American  Biography. 

In  looking  back  on  the  long  years  of  labor  which 
he  devoted  to  this  work,  we  cannot  but  regret  that,  by 
beginning  so  late  in  life,  and  by  spreading  himself  over 
so  wide  a  surface,  he  failed  to  complete  what,  within 
narrower  limits  and  with  longer  time,  would  have 
been  a  very  useful  work.  The  articles,  too,  are  most 
of  them  first  sketches,  rather  than  finished  papers 
The  toil  of  revision,  addition,  and  correction,  remains 
to  be  performed.  In  their  present  state,  they  are  a 


LIFE     OP    WILLIAM    PLUMER.  507 

vast  accumulation  of  interesting  facts  in  American 
history  and  biography  •  but  they  lack  the  harmony 
and  artistical  perfectness  which  longer  time  and 
greater  elaboration  could  alone  give  them,  and  which 
the  author's  age,  when  he  commenced  the  undertak 
ing,  left  little  reason  to  hope  that  he  could  live  to 
supply.  Whether,  under  such  circumstances,  any 
portion  of  these  writings  is  in  a  condition  to  see  the 
light,  is  a  question  reserved  for  farther  consideration 
after  the  present  memoir  is  completed.  In  the 
author's  will,  written  nearly  thirteen  years  before  his 
death,  he  provided,  on  the  supposition  that  the  work 
would  be  finished  by  him  in  his  lifetime,  for  its  pub 
lication  after  his  death ;  but,  at  a  later  period,  he 
expressed  doubts  whether  it  should,  in  its  then 
imperfect  state,  be  given  to  the  press.  That  the 
work  was  never  completed,  though  a  loss  to  the  pub 
lic,  was  no  injury,  perhaps,  to  its  author, — none,  at 
least,  to  his  personal  comfort  and  enjoyment. 
"  Happy,"  it  has  been  well  said,  "  is  the  man  who  has 
a  ' magnum  opus'  on  hand!  Be  it  an  ' Excursion' 
by  Wordsworth,  or  Southey's  '  Portugal,'  or  a  Nean- 
drine  '  Church  History' — to  the  fond  projector  there 
is  no  end  of  congenial  occupation ;  and,  provided  he 
never  completes  it,  there  will  be  no  breach  in  the 
blissful  illusion."  This  is  surely  a  juster  and  more 
consoling  view  of  the  concluding  labors  of  an  author's 
life,  than  that  taken  by  De  Quincey  respecting  a 


508  LIFE     OP     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

projected  work  of  his,  which  he  regards  as  "  a  memo 
rial  to  his  children  of  hopes  defeated,  of  baffled 
efforts,  of  materials  uselessly  accumulated,  of  founda 
tions  laid  that  were  never  to  support  a  superstructure, 
of  the  grief  and  ruin  of  the  architect."  In  the  present 
case,  there  was  to  the  architect  no  grief  and  no  ruin ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  a  steady  succession  of  pleasing 
occupations,  of  daily  enjoyment,  and  cheerful  antici 
pations  of  usefulness  to  others,  when  he  should  him 
self  cease  to  act  or  to  enjoy.  Occupation  in  the 
present,  and  hope  for  the  future,  are  among  the 
essential  elements  of  human  happiness.  With  both 
of  these,  his  declining  years  were  abundantly  fur 
nished  in  the  quiet  seclusion  of  the  domestic  circle, 
by  the  gentle  companionship  of  his  books,  and  the 
assiduous  but  unexhausting  labors  of  the  pen. 

It  may  be  here  mentioned  that  his  literary  pur 
suits  brought  him  into  connexion  with  many  learned 
societies;  and  that  among  others  to  which  he 
belonged  were  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society, 
the  Statistical  Association,  the  Academy  of  Lan 
guages  and  Belles  Lettres,  the  American  Antiquarian 
Society,  and  the  Danish  Iloyal  Society  of  Northern 
Antiquities.  His  last  two  journeys  to  Concord  were 
to  assist  at  the  organization,  in  1823,  of  the  New 
Hampshire  Historical  Society,  in  which  he  took  much 
interest,  and  of  which  he  was  the  first  President. 
They  requested  him  to  deliver  the  first  annual 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  509 

address  before  the  society,  which  he  declined,  on  the 
ground  of  feeble  health.  He  gave  to  the  society 
some  two  or  three  hundred  volumes,  principally  the 
earlier  and  more  valuable  of  his  state  papers. 

A  few  further  extracts,  containing  the  expression 
of  opinions,  or  notices  of  facts,  will  lead  us,  by  a  dif 
ferent  route,  over  the  same  period  to  the  close  of  his 
Journals  and  his  correspondence.  January  29th, 
1820,  he  writes  to  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  Vice  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  : 

"  On  the  subject  of  the  Missouri  restriction,  I  indulge  the 
fond  hope  that  the  friends  of  liberty  will  prevail,  and  that 
slavery  will  be  kept  within  its  present  limits.  On  this  sub 
ject  I  have  read  and  reflected  much ;  and  have  never  doubted 
the  right,  or  the  policy  of  admitting  new  states,  subject  to  the 
condition  that  they  shall  not  enslave  their  fellow  men.  Nor 
have  I  any  doubt  that  the  power  to  hold  slaves  will  eventually 
prove  a  curse,  and  not  a  blessing,  to  the  state  to  which  it  may 
be  granted.  It  is  an  immutable  principle  of  the  laws  of 
nature  that  those  who  violate  those  laws  do,  by  that  very  vio 
lation,  lay  a  foundation  for  their  own  punishment,  which, 
sooner  or  later,  must  and  will  be  inflicted.  The  strength  of 
any  state  must  be  impaired,  and  its  danger  from  insurrections 
increased,  in  proportion  as  slaves  increase  within  its  limits. 
Slavery  is  not  only  a  reproach  to  our  character  as  a  nation, 
but  its  extension  to  new  states  adds  deeply  to  that  reproach 
and  disgrace.  It  increases,  too,  the  existing  inequality,  in 
the  apportionment  of  representatives  and  electors,  in  violation 
of  the  principles  of  right  and  justice  ;  and  will,  I  fear,  give 


510  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEB. 

rise,  in  its  consequences,  to  a  new  state  of  parties,  marked  by 
geographical  lines,  described  as  slaveholding  and  non-slave- 
holding  states, — a  condition  of  parties  more  dangerous  to  our 
system  of  government,  than  any  that  has  yet  existed 
among  us." 

On  this  subject  of  slavery,  he  entered  warmly  into 
the  feeling,  then  universal  in  the  free  states,  against 
its  further  extension ;  and  predicted  the  overthrow  of 
the  Union  from  the  moment  that  the  slave  states 
should  acquire  an  acknowledged  and  uncontrollable 
preponderance  in  the  government  of  the  Union.  He 
wrote  me,  (February  20th,  1820 :) 

"  The  Missouri  question  has  lost,  in  my  mind,  none  of  its 
interest  or  importance.  I  could  not  consent  to  any  compro 
mise,  "which  the  slave-holders  may  offer.  I  consider  the 
extension  of  slavery  as  a  crime  in  those  who  permit  it, — an 
evil  fatal  to  the  interests  of  the  free  states.  If  it  prevails,  it 
will,  I  fear,  eventually  produce  the  calamity,  which  I  have  so 
long  deprecated, — a  dismemberment  of  the  states.  If,  to  obtain 
this  extension,  its  advocates  in  the  Senate  can  be  guilty  of 
such  an  outrage  upon  all  parliamentary  proceedings,  as  to 
couple  in  one  bill  Missouri  with  Maine,  what  may  we  not 
expect  from  them,  when,  by  their  slave  representation,  they 
shall  have  gained  the  ascendency  in  the  halls  of  Congress  ? 
In  wealth  and  in  physical  force,  the  free  states  will  maintain  a 
decided  superiority ;  but,  in  legislation,  the  slave  states  will 
rule.  The  great  interests  of  the  free  states  are  agriculture, 
commerce,  and  manufactures  ;  but,  in  the  slave  states,  agricul- 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEE.  511 

ture  constitutes  their  principal  employment, — not  an  agricul 
ture  like  ours,  but  the  planting  interests  of  cotton,  tobacco, 
rice,  and  sugar.  It  will  be,  therefore,  natural  for  those  states, 
when  all  power  is  vested  in  their  hands,  to  neglect  to  provide 
for  the  protection  and  encouragement  of  commerce  and  manu 
factures.  A  series  of  measures  may  be  expected  to  follow, 
fatal  to  the  integrity  of  the  Union." 

To    Jonathan    0.  Moseley,  he  writes,   (March  3d, 

1820:) 

"  On  the  question  of  admitting  new  states  formed  from 
without  the  limits  of  the  old  thirteen,  I  have  never  had  a 
doubt  either  of  the  constitutionality  or  the  expediency  of 
requiring  such  states  to  stipulate  that  they  will  not  hold  slaves, 
as  a  condition  requisite  for  their  admission.  I  hope  you  will 
agree  to  no  compromise  on  this  subject  with  the  slave-holding 
states.  If  your  House  will  act  with  firmness,  you  will  yet 
save  the  nation,  preserve  the  rights  of  the  free  states,  and 
eventually  the  new  states  of  the  west,  though  against  their 
will,  from  a  curse  more  grievous  to  them  than  war  and  pesti 
lence  united.  The  longer  I  have  considered  the  subject,  the 
more  important  it  becomes  in  my  view." 

The  following  passages  are  extracted  from  his 
Diary : 

June  18,  1821.  "  Of  foreigners,  we  have  already  in  our 
country  more  than  enough.  They,  in  general,  consist  of  the 
poor,  the  discontented,  the  restless  and  unquiet,  who  diminish 
rather  than  increase  our  strength  and  our  wealth.  Their  habits 


512  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

and  their  opinions  are  unfavorable  to  our  government  and 
our  institutions.  A  slower  but  sounder  growth  is  more 
to  be  desired." 

Dec.  14th,  1821.  "  I  have  read  the  President's  Message.  As 
a  writer,  he  is  vastly  below  some  of  his  predecessors  ;  and,  in 
point  of  talents,  at  a  still  greater  distance  from  them.  There 
is  no  one  act  of  my  official  life  on  which  I  reflect  with  more  sat 
isfaction  than  that  of  withholding  from  him  my  vote  as  an 
Elector." 

Dec.  15th,  1823.  "  The  President's  Message  is  the  best 
communication  he  has  ever  made  to  Congress.  The  senti 
ments  are  manly  and  independent.  As  an  individual,  I  am 
proud  of  such  language  from  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the 
nation  to  its  Legislature.  Though  the  Holy  Alliance — the 
despots  of  Europe — may  consider  it  made  in  defiance  of  their 
claims  and  conduct,  and  be  irritated  by  it,  we  have  nothing 
to  fear  from  them.  They  have  enough  to  do,  in  their  own 
kingdoms,  to  keep  their  own  people  in  slavery ;  and  however 
they  may  wish  the  destruction  of  our  free  government,  they 
understand  too  well  their  own  position,  and  ours,  to  make 
war  on  this  country." 

This  was  the  remarkable  message,  in  which  the 
doctrine  was  first  advanced  tbat  no  European  power 
should,  in  future,  be  allowed  to  establish  a  colony  in 
America.  It  is  now  understood  that  the  tone  of  this 
message,  so  bold  and  energetic,  if  not  its  very  lan 
guage,  was  tbat  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  then  Secre 
tary  of  State,  rather  than  of  President  Monroe. 

Mr.  Plumer  entered  warmly  into  the  support  6t 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  513 

his  friend  Adams,  who  had  been  elected  President  in 
1824,  and  was  met,  from  the  beginning,  by  a  most 
violent  and  envenomed  opposition.  Among  his 
opponents  in  this  State  was  Levi  Woodbury,  who, 
elected  as  an  Adams  man,  very  soon  took  his  stand  in 
the  Jackson  ranks,  and  became,  ultimately,  a  promi 
nent  leader  in  the  party.  Of  the  kind  of  opposition 
which  Adams  had  to  encounter,  a  sample  appears  in 
the  following  extract  from  one  of  Woodbury's  letters 
to  Mr.  Plumer,  (April  23d,  1826 :) 

"It  has  been  a  subject  of  mortification  to  Mr.  Adams's 
friends,  and  must  have  astonished  you,  I  think,  that  f  a 
billiard  table,  $50.00,'  '  billiard  balls,  $6.00,'  <  chess  men, 
$33.00,'  etc.,  etc.,  should  compose  a  part  of  the  articles  pur 
chased  by  him,  with,  the  public  fund,  and  should  go  down  to 
our  posterity  as  a  part  of  the  furniture  for  the  President's  use, 
in  this  virtuous  stage  of  our  country's  growth  and  history." 

The  virtuous  indignation  of  the  worthy  Senator  at 
this  misapplication  of  the  public  funds,  seems  not  to 
have  been  felt  so  strongly  by  his  correspondent,  who 
wrote  in  reply,  (May  8th,  1826:) 

"  As  to  the  President's  purchasing  a  billiard  table,  balls, 
and  chess  men,  out  of  the  money  granted  him  to  furnish  his 
house,  I  consider  it  a  trivial  object,  and  of  little  importance 
to  the  public.  If  nothing  more  substantial  is  alleged  against 
the  President,  his  opponents  ought  to  feel  more  '  mortifica- 
cation'  than  his  friends.  A  predisposition  to  find  fault  too 


514  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

often  induces  men  to  strain  at  a  gnat  and  swallow  a  camcL 
There  is  useless  expenditure  enough  of  the  public  money ; 
but,  in  this  case,  if  the  House  or  Senate  charge  the  President 
with  waste  or  extravagance,  he  may  well  reply  to  the  accuser, 
Physician,  heal  thyself.  I  am  glad  your  session  is  to  close  in 
a  few  days  ;  for  I  think  the  nation  and  its  treasury  will  be 
safer  in  the  recess.  The  present  session  has  been  distinguished 
for  debating  much  and  doing  little  ;  the  mountain  has  been  in 
labor,  and  produced  a  mouse." 

The  following  is  from  a  letter  of  John  Quincy 
Adams,  dated  April  24th,  1827: 

"  Your  approbation  of  the  leading  measures  of  the  present 
administration,  if  not  more  than  a  counterbalance  to  all  the 
obloquy  with  which  it  is  visited,  is  among  the  most  cheering 
incidents  which  sustain  me  in  the  discharge  of  my  duties. 
That  I  endeavor  to  discharge  them  according  to  the  best  of 
my  ability,  is  the  sum  of  all  the  defence  I  can  make  against 
those  who  think  they  have  an  interest  in  passing  censure  upon 
me.  I  confidently  rely  upon  the  good  sense  of  the  people  to 
correct  the  mischief  which  results  from  the  present  state  of 
things,  though  I  cannot  flatter  myself  that  it  will  be  remedied 
within  the  term  of  my  public  service." 

June  17th,  1827,  to  Levi  Woodbmy,  who  had 
expressed  the  hope  "  that  there  was  no  such  radical 
difference  between  them  in  politics  as  to  alienate  old 
friends,"  Mr.  Plumer  wrote : 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK.  515 

"Though  we  differ  in  opinion  on  some  principles  and 
measures,  which  I  consider  of  vital  importance  to  the  interests 
of  our  common  country,  that  difference  will  never,  I  trust, 
alienate  me  from  you.  I  have,  through  a  long  life,  enjoyed 
the  satisfaction  of  preserving  my  friendship  and  attachment  to 
men  whose  religious  and  political  opinions  have  been  opposed 
to  mine ;  and  as  long  as  I  think  a  man  preserves  his  integrity, 
his  opinions  will  not  impair  my  confidence,  or  dimmish  my 
friendship  for  him." 

From  the  Diary  for  July  4th,  1828,  we  quote  the 
following  entry : 

' f  I  presided  at  a  public  dinner,  in  Epping,  where  more 
than  a  hundred  gentlemen  from  this  and  the  adjacent  towns 
celebrated  the  anniversary  of  our  independence.  I  bore  the 
fatigues  of  the  day,  and  performed  my  duty  with  more  ease 
than  I  expected.  We  parted  before  the  day  closed  in  good 
humor  and  fine  spirits." 

To   Samuel  Bell   Mr.  Plumer   wrote,  (December 

9th,  1828:) 

fe  I  consider  the  late  election  of  President  [that  of  Jackson] 
one  of  the  most  unfortunate  events  that  ever  happened  in  this 
country.  A  man  who,  I  think,  has  not  a  single  qualification  for 
the  office  has  triumphed  over  one  pre-eminently  well  qualified, 
and  that  by  a  great  majority.  A  mania  has  seized  the  public 
mind  ;  the  people  have  been  deceived  and  infatuated.  Is  not 
this  strong  evidence  that  our  government  is  in  danger  of  ter- 


516  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

urinating,  like  others  that  have  preceded  us,  in  monarchy,  or 
despotism  ?  Still  we  ought  not  to  despair  of  the  republic. 
'  It  can  never  be  too  late  to  own  a  conqueror,  and  sue  for 
chains."5 

Mr.  Plumer,  having  been  nominated  as  an  Elector 
of  President  and  Vice-President,  on  the  anti-masonic 
ticket,  declined,  October  26th?  1832,  in  favor  of  the 
National  Republican  candidates,  stating,  at  the  same 
time,  that  he  was  an  anti-mason,  and  had  always 
been  one,  on  the  ground  of  opposition  to  all  secret 
societies,  whatever  might  be  their  objects. 

In  reply  to  an  invitation  to  attend  the  celebration 
of  the  second  centennial  anniversary  of  the  settlement 
of  Newbury,  he  wrote,  (May  16th,  1835:) 

•"  Newburyport  is  the  place  of  my  nativity.  With  the  poet, 
I  can  truly  say,  f  Scenes  of  my  youth !  once  you  were  dear 
to  me ! '  Not  once  only ;  but  still  do  the  recollections  of 
Newburyport  afford  me  real  pleasure.  In  youth,  we  form 
attachments  to  the  places  where  we  were  born,  and  where  we 
have  spent  our  juvenile  years.  In  manhood,  the  reflecting 
mind  extends  those  attachments  to  other  places,  and  finally 
to  the  whole  country.  These  attachments,  thus  extended, 
constitute  that  noble  passion — love  of  country.  If  I  live 
to  the  25th  of  next  month,  I  shall  then  be  seventy-six  years 
of  age.  It  has  never  been  my  lot  to  enjoy,  at  any  time,  a 
high  state  of  health.  During  the  last  three  years,  it  has 
been  so  much  impaired,  that  I  have  hardly  ridden  five 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  517 

miles  in  a  day.  Though  it  would  afford  me  much  pleasure 
to  attend  your  celebration,  the  want  of  health  obliges  me  to 
decline  the  honor." 

He  had  now  a  new  source  of  interest,  pleasure  and 
amusement,  in  the  society  of  his  grand-children,  of 
whom  he  was  very  fond,  and  who  visited  him  daily, 
while  they  were  at  home,  and  corresponded  with  him 
when  they  were  absent  at  school.  Their  letters,  how 
ever  imperfect,  afforded  him  great  pleasure ;  and  he 
never  failed  to  answer  them,  giving  them  the  same 
kind  admonitions  and  wise  counsels  which  he  had, 
years  before,  lavished  on  their  fathers. 

The  last  letter  which  he  wrote,  or  rather  signed,  (for 
I  was  his  amanuensis  on  this  occasion,)  was  in  answer 
to  an  invitation  to  attend  the  meeting  of  the  Sons  of 
New  Hampshire,  in  Boston,  in  November,  1849 : 

"  EPPING,  November  3d,  1849. 

"  GENTLEMEN, — I  have  received  your  invitation  to  attend 
the  festival  of  the  Sons  of  New  Hampshire,  to  be  holden  at 
Boston,  on  the  seventh  instant.  It  would  give  me  great  pleas 
ure,  if  the  state  of  my  health  would  permit,  to  be  with  you 
on  that  occasion.  But  the  infirmities  of  age  press  heavily  upon 
me ;  the  penalty,  which  few  escape,  who  much  outlive  the 
threescore  years  and  ten,  fixed  by  the  Psalmist  as  the  ordinary 
period  of  human  life.  Even  the  fourscore  years,  which  he 
pronounced  to  be  labor  and  sorrow  to  the  few  by  whom  they 
are  attained,  I  have  not  only  reached,  but  have  left  them,  long 


518  LIFE     OF    WILLIAM    PLUMER. 

since,  behind  me  in  my  progress  of  life.  Age,  then,  and  its 
consequent  debility,  must  be  my  excuse  for  not  attending  the 
meeting,  to  which  you  invite  me.  I  do  not  the  less  sympa 
thize  with  you  in  the  objects  of  that  meeting.  Born  in  Mas 
sachusetts,  I  feel  for  the  old  Bay  State  the  veneration  of  a 
true  son  for  a  worthy  parent ;  and  it  is  among  your  best 
claims  on  my  regard,  that  you,  gentlemen,  and  those  for  whom 
on  this  occasion  you  act,  have,  in  various  ways,  and  in  many 
walks  of  life,  done  such  high  honor,  and  rendered  such  true 
service,  to  the  State  of  your  adoption,  and  of  my  nativity.  But 
though  born  in  Massachusetts,  I  have  been  for  more  than 
eighty  years  an  inhabitant  of  New  Hampshire  ;  and  you  may 
well  believe  that  I  cherish  for  her  the  respect  to  which  her 
many  virtues  entitle  her,  and  feel,  far  more  strongly  than  I 
can  express,  the  deep  gratitude  which  her  favors,  shown  to 
me  in  years  now  long  departed,  have  written  on  my  heart. 
For  her  hardy,  virtuous,  and  intelligent  sons,  whether  remain 
ing  in  their  native  homes,  or  seeking  fame  and  fortune  in 
other  regions,  I  can  indulge  no  better  wish,  than  that  they 
may  prove  their  true  descent  from  a  noble  stem,  by  conduct 
worthy  of  their  birth  and  nurture  in  the  Granite  State. 
"  I  remain,  gentlemen,  with  great  respect, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"WILLIAM  PLUMER." 
"  To  the  Committee  of  Invitation." 

In   introducing   this  letter,  the  President  of  the 
meeting,  Mr.  Webster,  said  : 

"  Governor  Plumer  is  a  man  of  learning  and  of  talent.    He 
has  performed  important  service  in  the  Congress  of  the  United 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  519 

States.  He  has  been  many  years  Governor  of  the  State  of 
New  Hampshire.  He  has  lived  a  life  of  study  and  attain 
ment,  and,,  I  suppose,  is,  among  the  men  now  living,  one  of 
the  best  informed  in  the  matters  pertaining  to  the  history  of 
his  country.  He  is  now  more  than  ninety  years  of  age.  He 
expresses  the  pleasure  he  should  feel  to  be  here,  if  his 
advanced  life  would  permit.  Gentlemen,  I  propose  the 
health  of  Governor  Plumer  of  New  Hampshire,  the  oldest 
living  member  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States." 

This  speech  of  Mr.  Webster  was  received  with 
great  applause,  and  the  toast  drunk  with  hearty 
and  long  continued  cheering.  This  warm  reception 
of  his  name,  after  a  retirement  of  more  than  thirty 
years  from  the  public  sight,  by  so  distinguished  an 
assembly  of  the  sons  of  New  Hampshire,  the  older 
among  them  contemporaries  of  his  manhood,  and 
most  of  the  others,  sons  and  grandsons  of  his  former 
friends  and  opponents  in  public  life — gave  him  great 
pleasure,  when  reported  to  him  by  me,  as  it  seemed 
to  indicate,  to  some  extent  at  least,  the  estimate 
which  would  ultimately  be  formed  by  the  public 
judgment  of  his  life  and  character, — a  verdict  ren 
dered,  with  the  impartiality  of  a  succeeding  gener 
ation,  on  the  transactions  of  the  past. 

Many  indications  of  his  declining  health  have  been 
given  in  the  preceding  extracts ;  many  more  are  to 
be  found  in  his  letters  and  journal.  He  was  in  the 
habit  of  noting  down,  chiefly  on  his  birthday,  or  at 


520  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

the  close  of  the  year,  the  changes  which  time  and 
disease  had  made,  and  were  making,  in  his  powers 
both  of  body  and  of  mind.  These  he  was  himself 
the  first  to  perceive ;  and  he  has  recorded  them,  not 
in  a  spirit  of  querulous  discontent,  but  with  calm 
resignation  to  the  order  of  nature,  and  a  ready 
acquiescence  in  the  necessary  course  of  inevitable 
events.  A  few  extracts  of  a  more  personal  charac 
ter  will  bring  us  to  the  period  when  our  record 
must  close. 

June  25th,  1820.  "  It  is  more  than  a  year  since  I  retired 
from  the  government  of  the  state  to  private  life.  I  never 
spent  a  year  of  greater  ease  and  happiness.  I  have  had  too 
much  of  office  and  public  life  to  wish  for  more.  Though  not 
wealthy,  I  have  property  enough  to  supply  my  reasonable 
wants,  and  I  have  no  inclination  to  acquire  more.  I  seldom 
neglect  exercise  for  a  single  day.  It  consists  principally  in 
superintending  my  farm.  My  sleep  is  sound  and  refreshing, 
and  I  preserve  the  habit  of  early  rising.  My  diet  is  regular, 
simple  and  plain.  My  thirst  for  information  is  strong,  and 
the  only  thing  I  regret,  is  the  shortness  of  time." 

July  10th,  1820.  "  Reading,  study,  and  writing  afford  me 
the  purest  pleasure  and  the  highest  satisfaction  which  I  enjoy. 
It  exceeds  the  pleasures  and  the  enjoyments  of  the  prime  of 
life.  I  pity  the  man  of  threescore  who  cannot  read  with 
ardor.  His  life  is  a  barren  wilderness.  In  politics  I  am  not 
bound  by  the  shackles  of  party,  nor  in  religion  by  the  chains 
of  sectarianism ;  truth  alone  is  the  object  of  my  pursuit. 
Every  subject  I  consider,  every  book  I  read,  appears  different 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  521 

from  what  it  formerly  did.  As  my  mind  is  independent,  and 
my  circumstances  easy,  I  give  free  scope  to  my  inquiries.  If 
I  discover  an  error,  which  I  have  long  cherished,  I  relinquish 
it  with  pleasure,  nay,  even  with  pride ;  but  I  do  not  change 
my  opinions  on  important  subjects  without  mature  and  delib 
erate  consideration." 

June  25th,  1821.  "  I  am  now  sixty-two  years  of  age.  I 
feel  the  effect  of  age  on  my  feeble  constitution,  though  I  bear 
it  better  than  I  expected.  The  period  of  life  to  which  I  have 
arrived  has  a  natural  tendency  to  limit  the  objects  of  my 
attention,  and  to  make  me  reflect  on  approaching  dissolution, 
which  I  often  do,  calmly,  and  without  fear.  The  events  of 
the  past,  books  of  history,  science,  literature,  and  morals, 
afford  me  more  information  and  greater  pleasure  than  passing 
events,  and  the  politics  of  the  day." 

June  25th,  1822.  "  I  have  passed  my  climacterical  year. 
At  this  period  of  life,  it  is  natural  to  expect  that  every  year 
will  render  me  more  infirm.  In  some  constitutions,  decay 
commences  before  sixty-three,  in  others  later.  I  perceive  no 
particular  change  in  mine.  My  mental  powers  have  been  as 
sound  and  vigorous  as  they  were  the  preceding  year." 

December  31st,  1826.  "As  I  advance  in  years,  I  more 
sensibly  feel  the  importance  of  forming  correct  habits  in  early 
life.  I  now  receive  the  benefit  of  two  habits  which  I  con 
tracted  when  very  young ;  one  is  that  of  industry,  the  other, 
that  of  waiting  on  myself.  My  industry,  instead  of  decreasing, 
as  I  descend  the  vale  of  years,  is  rather  increased.  I  rise  in 
the  morning,  at  all  seasons,  before  the  sun ;  and,  in  the 
winter,  bring  in  my  wood,  and  kindle  my  fire  myself.  I  feed 
my  hogs  and  poultry,  and  visit  my  barn,  in  winter,  twice  a  day." 


522  LIFE    OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

This  habit  of  feeding  his  swine  was  an  early  and 
inveterate  one.  On  one  occasion,  while  he  was 
Governor,  a  committee  from  Portsmouth,  who  called 
upon  him  on  business,  found  him  with  his  basket  of 
corn  in  his  hand,  feeding  his  pigs.  These  city  visitors 
were  at  first  a  little  disconcerted  by  the  homely  occu 
pation  of  their  Chief  Magistrate  ;  but  he  entered,  at 
once,  into  conversation  with  them  on  the  merits  of 
the  various  breeds  of  swine,  and  enlarged  on  their 
habits  and  their  attractions,  with  a  relish  and  good 
humor,  and  a  knowledge  of  the  subject,  which  could 
hardly  have  been  surpassed  by  that  "prince  of 
men,"  as  Homer  calls  him,  "the  divine  swine-herd/' 
Eumaeus  himself.  This  incident  might  remind  the 
classic  reader  of  the  Samnite  deputies,  who,  when 
sent  on  a  solemn  embassy  to  Marius  Curius  Den- 
tatus,  found  the  Roman  Consul  at  his  Sabine  farm, 
sitting  by  the  fire,  with  a  wooden  platter  beside  him, 
roasting  turnips  in  the  ashes  for  his  dinner.  A  some 
what  similar  incident,  nearer  home,  and  equally 
characteristic  of  the  man  and  of  the  times,  was 
that  with  which  Lafayette  used  to  amuse  the  French 
court,  when  he  described  his  call  on  President  Weare, 
of  New  Hampshire,  in  1784.  The  Legislature  was 
in  session  at  Exeter;  and  on  calling  at  the  President's 
lodgings,  he  was  told  that  he  had  stepped  into  an 
adjoining  room.  Impatient  to  pay  his  respects  to  the 
Chief  Magistrate,  the  vivacious  Frenchman  rushed 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  523 

forward,  in  spite  of  the  friendly  interposition,  which 
would  have  staid  his  steps,  till  he  came  suddenly  and 
unexpectedly  on  the  venerable  President,  whom  he 
found  seated  quietly  in  the  kitchen  corner,  eating — 
not  a  piece  of  Christmas  pie,  but  the  humble  repast 
of  a  bowl  of  hasty  pudding  and  milk. 

February  18th,  1829.  "If  the  old  would  be  happy,  they 
must  not  suffer  the  energies  of  their  minds  to  stagnate.  They 
must  continue  those  pursuits  of  which,  tlieir  declining  age  is 
capable,  and  exercise  their  powers  011  such  subjects  as  most 
deeply  interest  and  engage  their  attention.  Indolence, 
whether  of  body  or  mind,  is  injurious  in  every  stage  of 
life;  but,  in  old  age,  it  never  fails  to  break  down  the 
intellect,  and  degrade  the  moral  powers." 

May  31st,  1829.  "My  health  has,  this  spring,  consider 
ably  declined.  My  memory  is  still  retentive,  except  as  to 
names.  These  are  often  recollected  with  difficulty.  My 
imagination  begins  to  fade ;  and,  though  I  cannot  perceive 
that  my  judgment  is  much  impaired,  it  requires  more  time 
for  me  to  form  an  opinion  on  particular  subjects.  My  habits 
of  industry  remain  in  full  force.  I  am  uneasy  when  not 
employed.  The  prospect  of  approaching  dissolution  does  not 
disturb  the  quiet  tenor  of  my  course  to  the  grave ;  but  it 
doubles  my  diligence  to  perform  my  appointed  task." 

December  31st,  1830.  "I  have  long  had  but  little  con 
fidence  in  physicians,  and  have  seldom  employed  them. 
Between  a  good  and  a  bad  physician  there  is  a  great  differ 
ence  ;  but  very  little  between  a  good  one  and  none  at  all. 


524  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEE. 

'  Throw  physic  to  the  dogs/  says  Shakspeare ;  and  I  am 
much  of  his  opinion." 

December  31st,  1832.  "  My  eyes  begin  to  fail.  I  cannot, 
without  an  effort,  read  after  sunset,  or  by  candle-light.  The 
loss  of  sight  would  be  to  me  a  great  calamity.  I  fear  I  shall 
be  obliged  to  abandon  reading  and  writing  in  the  evening. 
Last  May,  I  was  apprehensive  that  my  taking  snuff  was  injuri 
ous  to  my  health.  In  weaning  myself  from  it,  which  it  took 
me  several  months  to  do,  I  suffered  much ;  but  I  now  feel 
no  inclination  to  return  to  it." 

June  25thj  1835.  "  I  require  a  longer  time  to  form  an 
opinion  than  I  formerly  did ;  but,  when  formed,  my  resolu 
tion  to  adhere  to  it  is  still  strong  and  decisive." 

January  1st,  1837.  "The  writing  of  letters  I  have  almost 
abandoned.  It  is  nearly  nine  months,  since  I  have  made  a 
note  in  my  journal  respecting  the  books  I  read.  In  a  word, 
my  time  and  thoughts  are  devoted  to  a  single  subject,  my 
biographical  sketches." 

June  25th,  1837.  "  For  the  last  twenty  years,  I  have  set 
every  evening  a  bowl  of  water  at  the  foot  of  my  bed,  and  in 
the  morning  washed  my  feet  in  it,  and  wiped  them  dry.  In 
winter  I  have  sometimes  to  break  the  ice  in  the  bowl.  I  have 
found  this  practice  very  beneficial.  My  appetite  is  good,  and 
I  sleep  well  at  night.  I  rise,  in  summer,  before  five  in  the 
morning,  and  retire  between  nine  and  ten  at  night.  My  hair, 
which,  in  early  life,  was  thick  and  very  black,  has  become 
thin  and  grey,  but  not  white.  I  am  not  so  erect  as  formerly, 
but  am  now  five  feet  and  ten  inches  high.  There  is  one  habit 
which  I  formed  in  early  life,  wThich  I  have  constantly  prac 
tised,  that  of  waiting  on  myself.  It  is  in  general  easier  for  me 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  525 

to  do  this  than  to  require  a  servant  to  wait  on  me.  I  speak 
here  of  the  thousand  little  things,  which  occur  in  daily  life, 
which  I  can  do  for  myself  easier  and  better  than  a  servant 
can.  By  waiting  on  myself  I  avoid  the  vexation  occasioned 
by  his  delay  or  his  carelessness,  and  profit  by  the  exercise 
which  it  gives  me." 

February  Tth,  1838.  "  It  requires  more  time  and  labor  to 
perform  as  much  as  usual ;  and,  what  is  worse,  when  done,  it 
is  more  feeble  and  imperfect  than  formerly.  But  I  still  pre 
serve  my  former  habits  of  industry  and  application." 

To  Professor  Rafn,  of  Copenhagen,  he  wrote,  (July 
9th,  1838 :) 

"  I  fear  that  I  shall  not  be  able  to  contribute  much,  if  any, 
assistance  to  your  Society.  I  am  too  far  advanced  in  life, 
being  now  in  my  eightieth  year,  to  collect  information,  or 
investigate  the  facts  relating  to  the  early  history  of  my 
country.  I  feel  sensibly  the  debility  which  accompanies 
old  age  ;  but,  I  thank  God,  I  bear  it  with  equanimity." 

In  September,  1839,  he  had  a  severe  attack  of 
cholera  morbus,  which  it  was  thought  for  some  time 
would  terminate  fatally.  The  physician — the  first  he 
had  employed  for  many  years — pronounced  him  in 
danger.  He  thought  so  himself.  "My  mind,"  he 
says,  "though  feeble,  was  calm;  and  I  felt  as  wil 
ling  to  die,  as  to  sleep,  or  rest  when  weary."  He 
gradually  recovered  his  strength,  and  returned  again 
before  the  close  of  the  year  to  his  usual  avocations. 


526  LIFE    OF    WILLIAM    PLUMEE. 

June  25th,  1840.  "  I  have  this  day  entered  the  eighty- 
second  year  of  my  life.  The  infirmities,  deprivations  and 
evils  of  age  have  increased  upon  me.  My  mental  powers  are 
diminished.  My  decision  of  character  is  still  strong  and 
vigorous.  I  am  habitually  industrious,  and  ' temperate  in  all 
things.'  " 

November  9th,  1840.  "  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  attend 
the  town  meeting,  and  vote  for  the  Harrison  Electors  of 
President  and  Vice-President.  I  am  now  older  than  my 
father  was  when  he  died.  I  have  frequent  attacks  of  rheuma 
tism,  and  almost  daily  pain.  My  mental  faculties  have 
suffered  a  gradual  decay.  I  hope  I  shall  not  survive  the 
use  of  them.  Their  loss  would  render  life  useless  to  me, 
and  burdensome  to  my  wife  and  children." 

June  25th,  1842.  "  I  have  this  year  suffered  more  pain, 
and  experienced  more  languor  and  debility,  than  in  any  pre 
ceding  year  of  my  life.  I  contemplate  the  prostration  of  my 
mental  faculties  with  regret,  but  my  death  with  entire 
resignation." 

His  health,  always  delicate,  seemed,  on  the  whole, 
nearly  as  good  at  eighty  as  it  had  ever  been.  His 
eye  was  not  dimmed,  nor  his  natural  force  abated ; 
nor  was  the  alacrity  of  his  spirit,  or  his  extraordinary 
conversational  ability,  at  all  impaired.  Though  he 
sometimes  forgot  the  name  of  a  person,  or  a  place, 
his  memory  of  events,  whether  recent  or  more 
remote,  was  still  ready  and  accurate ;  and  his  quick 
ness  of  repartee,  and  his  unlimited  command  of  lan 
guage  and  illustration,  excited  the  admiration  even 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  527 

of  those  who  knew  him  the  best.  His  seasonable 
retirement  from  business  had  given  a  long  and  serene 
evening  to  the  close  of  life,  after  the  laborious  occu 
pations  of  its  earlier  hours :  and  the  studies  in  which 
he  had  then  engaged  saved  him  from  the  listlessness 
which  creeps  over  the  declining  years  of  men  of 
active  habits,  retired  from  business  with  no  taste  for 
reading.  He  had  still  the  same  quickness  of  percep 
tion,  rectitude  of  judgment,  and  vivacity  of  manner, 
which  had  given  such  force  to  his  character  in  earlier 
life. 

But  the  infirmities  of  age  now  began  to  steal  upon 
him,  by  a  gradual  but  sure  advance — painful  at  times. 
At  the  age  of  eighty-five,  his  memory  had  lost  its 
hold  on  recent  occurrences,  though  still  accurate  as  to 
earlier  events.  This  failure  of  memory  did  not,  as  yet, 
affect  his  judgment,  or  his  perceptive  faculties.  It  was 
curious,  indeed,  to  remark  with  what  force  and  acute- 
ness  he  would  discuss  any  subject  proposed  to  him, 
and  yet  half  an  hour  afterwards  not  perhaps  recol 
lect  that  it  had  been  even  mentioned  in  his  hearing. 

As  months  passed  on,  it  was  painful  to  watch  this 
gradual  overclouding  of  the  intellect,  the  light  of 
memory  fading  from  the  mind,  and  leaving,  finally, 
only  flashes  of  former  recollections — the  embers  of 
decaying  fires.  He  was  himself  conscious  of  the  mel 
ancholy  change ;  and,  on  the  occurrence  of  some 
unexpected  failure  of  memory,  or  confusion  of  ideas, 


528  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

an  expression  of  mingled  surprise  and  regret  would 
escape  him,  followed  by  the  utterance  of  a  resigna 
tion  at  once  striking  and  pathetic.  The  decay,  how 
ever,  was  so  gradual,  that  he  felt  it  perhaps  less 
sensibly  than  we  who  witnessed  it.  Body  and  mind 
shared  the  same  decline,  each  growing  weaker  to 
the  close.  After  he  had  ceased  to  write,  he  con 
tinued  for  some  time  to  read.  But  it  became  appar 
ent,  by  degrees,  that  his  reading  w^as  to  little 
purpose,  other  than  to  pass  away  the  time.  His 
mind,  though  still  inquisitive,  had  lost  its  power 
to  retain  what  he  read;  and  at  length  even  this, 
the  last,  as  it  had  been  among  the  earliest  and 
most  cherished  of  his  employments,  failed  to  interest 
or  to  amuse  him.  He  had  now  ceased  to  labor;  and,  as 
life  and  labor  were  with  him  synonymous,  he  soon 
ceased  also  to  live.  The  brief  interval  of  inaction 
which  followed,  was  but  the  composing  of  the  limbs 
to  rest, — the  relaxation  which  precedes  sleep.  Full 
of  years  and  honors — satisfied  with  life — he  was  now 
ready  for  his  departure.  Some  extracts  from  entries 
made  by  me,  at  the  dates  respectively  named,  will 
bring  us  to  the  period  of  his  death. 

June  25th,  1847.  "  He  is  eighty-eight  years  old  to-day. 
Though  infirm,  he  is  able  to  go  about  the  house,  and  extends 
his  walks  occasionally  to  the  garden,  or  the  barn.  I  visit  him 
twice  a-day.  His  appetite  is  good,  and  his  bodily  health  not 
had  for  his  time  of  life.  But  his  memory  is  much  impaired. 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM    PLUMER.  529 

He  will  sometimes  talk  of  old  events  with  accuracy;  but 
more  frequently  times,  places,  and  persons  are  confounded ; 
and  what  is  true  of  one  is  told  of  another,  with  circumstances 
belonging  perhaps  to  a  third.  Yet  he  often  speaks,  and  even 
reasons,  on  particular  subjects,  with  a  good  deal  of  his  old 
vivacity  and  acuteness.  He  is  quick  to  mark  the  fallacy  of 
any  remark  made  in  his  presence,  and  will  often  draw  the  line 
of  distinction  between  truth  and  error  as  clear  and  sharp  as  in 
his  best  days ;  so  that  strangers,  who  converse  with  him  for  a 
short  time  only,  go  away  with  admiration  at  this  unim 
paired  vigor  of  mind  in  so  old  a  man.  His  hold  on  life  is 
apparently  very  slender, — sometimes  it  seems  all  but  gone. 
Yet,  like  a  withered  leaf  which  has  hung  trembling  all  winter 
upon  the  tree,  there  seems  no  reason  why  one  breeze  should 
detach  it  more  than  another." 

March  4th,  1848.  "  My  father  is  much  affected  by  the 
death  of  his  old  friend,  John  Quincy  Adams.  I  found  him 
this  morning  in  tears,  with  the  newspaper  in  his  hand,  reading 
the  account  of  the  death,  and  of  the  last  honors  paid  to  his 
distinguished  friend.  He  repeated  several  times  very  emphati 
cally  :  '  He  was  a  great  man — a  good  man — an  excellent 
man.'  He  was  so  much  affected  by  it,  that  we  endeavored, 
though  in  vain,  to  keep  the  accounts  from  him." 

Dec.  28th,  1848.  "  On  my  return  from  Boston,  last  week, 
I  found  my  father  much  altered  in  his  appearance,  and  much 
indisposed.  Thursday,  the  21st,  while  conversing  with  the 
family,  he  suddenly  stopped,  turned  pale,  and  seemed  about 
to  fall  from  his  chair.  He  was  immediately  removed  to  his 
bed,  and  it  seemed,  for  the  moment,  as  if  life  had  departed. 
He,  however,  revived  with  a  sudden  start,  as  if  from  a  fit. 

34 


530  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

His  physician  thought  that  he  had  no  disease  upon  him, 
beyond  the  natural  debility  of  old  age.  He  did  not  think  that 
he  could  continue  long.  Since  that,  he  has  been  growing 
weaker,  yet  with  occasional  improvement.  At  times,  his 
mind  seems  bright  and  clear,  and  he  indulges  in  his  usual 
acute  and  lively  remarks,  not  without  an  occasional  touch  of 
humor  or  sarcasm.  I  sat  up  with  him  on  the  night  of  the 
23d,  and  again  on  the  26th,  when  it  seemed  hardly  probable 
that  he  would  live  till  morning.  Till  about  midnight,  he 
was  very  restless,  and  talked  much  and  earnestly,  but  inco 
herently  at  times.  "When  more  calm,  he  spoke,  among  other 
things,  of  his  long  accustomed  labors,  the  materials  he  had 
collected  for  his  Biographical  Sketches,  and  the  lives  he  had 
yet  to  write.  He  said  he  had  written  with  freedom  and 
impartiality  of  men  and  measures,  telling,  in  every  case,  what 
he  believed  to  be  the  truth.  He  hoped  some  of  the  sketches 
might  be  found  fit  for  publication.  This  morning,  he  seemed 
better  than  he  had  been.  He  got  up,  and  was  able  to  sit  in  a 
chair  for  fifteen  minutes.  "While  he  was  sitting,  my  mother 
offered  him  a  pinch  of  snuff.  He  stretched  out  his  hand,  but 
withdrew  it  again,  and  said,  smiling :  l  The  woman  which 
thou  gavest  me  tempted  me.'  He  added,  smiling  again  :  '  But 
Adam  was  a  weak  man  to  yield  to  temptation.'  He  after 
wards  quoted  a  passage  from  St.  Paul,  on  the  immortality  of 
the  soul ;  spoke  of  dreams,  and  said  that  the  phenomena  of 
dreaming  seemed  to  show  a  state  of  being,  of  which  we  had 
no  other  experience.  He  soon  after  became  exhausted,  and  we 
restored  him  to  his  bed.  His  habitual  kindness  of  disposition, 
and  his  desire  to  be  as  little  burdensome  as  possible,  appear 
in  the  frequent  apologies  which  he  makes  for  the  trouble  he 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  531 

gives  us.  ( I  thank  you,'  uttered  in  the  kindest  tones,  is  one 
of  his  most  frequent  expressions." 

Dec.  31st.  "  It  is  touching  to  remark,  how,  in  the  decline 
of  the  understanding,  his  moral  powers  seem  to  retain  their 
rightful  supremacy.  The  intellect  has  no  longer  its  accus 
tomed  strength ;  but  the  kindly  affections,  the  moral  feelings, 
come  out  in  yet  stronger  relief.  He  seems  better  to-day,  or 
at  least  stronger.  He  was  dressed  and  sat  in  his  chair  the 
greater  part  of  the  day." 

Jan.  5th,  1849.  ff  He  has  been  gradually  gaining  strength 
for  several  days  past,  and  seems  now  likely  to  get  over  this 
attack,  though  still  very  weak." 

He  did  accordingly  recover ;  and  seemed,  for  a 
time,  to  be  quite  as  well  as  he  had  been  for  some 
years  before.  The  death  of  his  youngest  son,  (May 
1st,  1849,)  moved  him  greatly,  and  with  a  stunning 
effect.  The  funeral  was  from  his  house,  and  he 
seemed,  at  times,  at  a  loss  to  understand  why  the 
house  was  so  full  of  strangers,  and  what  they  were 
about.  After  supper,  he  said  to  me  that  he  wanted 
to  go  home,  evidently  thinking  that  he  was  in  some 
strange  place  ;  but  this  was  a  momentary  illusion  ; 
and  he  soon  after  talked  with  his  usual  self-possession 
and  equanimity.  "  It  is,"  he  said,  "  all  for  the  best. 
Jay  has  gone  before  ;  but  I  shall  not  be  long  in  fol 
lowing.  This  is  a  good  world ;  but  there  is  a  better 
one  where  he  is  gone." 


532  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER, 

Aug.  6th,  1850.  "  For  the  last  month  or  two,  my  father 
has  been  gradually  losing  his  sight.  It  is  a  year  or  more 
since  he  complained  that  he  could  not  find  glasses  that  suited 
him.  It  now  appears  that  cataracts  are  growing  over  one,  if 
not  both  of  his  eyes.  He  walks  but  little,  and  steps  slowly 
and  with  caution,  as  if  afraid  of  falling.  Two  or  three  months 
ago,  he  set  out  alone  to  come  up  to  my  house,  but  was  met 
half  way,  and  persuaded  to  return.  About  a  month  ago,  he 
rode  up  to  see  his  brother  Daniel,  who  was  sick.  Weakened 
as  his  mind  is,  it  seems  to  have  lost,  none  of  its  activity.  It 
is  not  the  torpor,  but  the  debility,  of  the  brain ;  nor  is  this 
weakness  perpetual.  He  often  reasons  correctly,  and  makes 
sound  and  sensible  remarks.  His  language,  too,  is  accurate, 
and  his  use  of  words  pure.  If  at  any  time  he  uses  a  word  or 
expression  which  is  improper,  he  pauses  to  correct  himself, 
and  shows  by  the  phrase  finally  selected  that  the  idea  was  in 
the  mind,  though  the  word  proper  to  express  it  had  at  first 
escaped  him.  It  is  not,  therefore,  the  parrot-like  repetition  of 
words  not  understood,  but  the  deliberate  utterance  of  compre 
hended  thought,  and  of  a  purity  of  taste  and  accuracy  of 
expression,  which  survive  the  knowledge  to  which  they  were 
once  auxiliary." 

On  the  third  of  December,  he  was  suddenly  taken 
ill,  having  been,  for  some  time  previous,  as  well  as 
usual.  He,  however,  rallied  in  a  few  days;  and 
seemed  to  be  recovering  his  wonted  strength,  so  much 
so,  that  I  went  to  Concord  on  the  9th  to  attend  the 
Constitutional  Convention,  of  which  I  was  a  member, 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  533 

thinking  him,  though  feeble,  in  no  immediate  danger. 
He  was,  the  next  day,  strong  enough  to  sit  up  in  his 
bed,  and  it  seemed  probable  that  he  would  regain  his 
usual  state  of  health.  The  following  account  of  the 
closing  scene  is  from  the  diary  of  one  of  his  grand 
daughters. 

Dec.  15th.  "  He  is  very  mild  and  pleasant,  characteristic 
ally  afraid  of  giving  trouble  to  others,  and  thanking  every  one 
who  does  him  the  slightest  service.  If  giving  way  for  a 
moment  to  any  impatient  feeling,  he  checks  himself,  and  says 
— (  But  it  is  all  right.'  He  is  so  patient  and  uncomplaining, 
he  seems  so  calm,  and  looks  so  peaceful,  that  it  is  a  comfort  to 
be  with  him.  His  mind  often  wanders  back  to  his  youthful 
days.  As  his  sight  is  nearly  gone,  I  asked  him,  on  coming  in 
to-day,  if  he  knew  me.  He  said  :  f  Yes  ;  you  are  my  sister  ;' 
and  he  afterwards  asked  me  if  I  thought  he  could  do  anything 
to  make  his  father  and  mother  more  comfortable  in  their  old 
age.  Even  when  not  recognizing  others,  he  knows  grand 
mother's  voice,  and  answers  her  with  great  tenderness.  He 
repeated  to-day  passages  from  Scripture,  hymns,  and  other 
poetry.  His  quotations  seemed  to  have  reference  mostly  to 
his  own  situation." 

16th.  "  One  of  his  grandsons,  who  had  been  absent  about 
two  years,  came  home.  He  knew  him,  was  glad  to  see  him, 
and  made  some  inquiries  respecting  his  travels." 

20th.  "  There  was  an  evident  change  for  the  worse  ;  and 
he  continued  to  grow  weaker." 

22d.  "  We  were  all  with  him  through  the  day ;  and, 
when  the  others  went  borne,  I  staid,  to  sit  up  witb  him 


534  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK. 

through  the  night.  He  was  quiet,  and  seldom  spoke  ;  but 
his  breathing  was  faint  and  irregular.  At  length,  as  I  sat 
listening  anxiously  to  every  breath,  I  heard  him  suddenly 
breathe  a  little  harder  and  quicker  than  before.  I  sprang  to 
the  bed-side  in  time  to  see  his  last  gasp.  He  died  without  a 
struggle  or  a  groan,  or  the  slightest  movement,  except  of  his 
lips.  As  I  stood  over  him,  he  looked  so  calm — it  was  so 
much  like  sleep — that  I  could  not  believe  he  was  gone.  I 
held  my  breath  to  listen,  and  watched  anxiously  for  some 
sign  of  life  ;  but  none  came.  It  was  eight  minutes  past  eight 
in  the  evening  of  the  £2d  of  December  when  he  left  us.  I 
was  the  only  member  of  the  family  present  at  the  time.  I 
sent  immediately  to  call  the  others.  When  my  uncles  came, 
the  question  was,  how  we  should  communicate  the  event  to 
grandmother,  who  had  been  much  agitated  on  leaving  him  a 
few  hoars  before.  It  was  decided  that  I  should  do  it,  which 
I  accordingly  did.  I  found  her  prepared  for  the  event,  and, 
though  much  afflicted,  she  bore  it  better  than  we  feared." 

At  the  time  of  his  decease,  I  was  at  Manchester,  on 
my  way  home  from  Concord,  having  received  notice 
of  his  increasing  danger.  A  storm,  which  rendered 
all  travelling  impossible,  prevented  my  reaching 
Epping  till  two  days  later.  He  was  already  in  the 
coffin  when  I  arrived.  There  was  still  a  faint  smile 
around  his  lips,  a  tranquillity  of  expression,  a  serene 
composure,  which  seemed,  in  its  mysterious  silence, 
full  of  that  peace  which  passe th  understanding.  But 
there  was  more  than  the  serenity  of  death  in  his 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  535 

countenance, — a  look  at  once  overawing  and  attrac 
tive,  calm,  placid,  yet  noble  beyond  what  the  living 
form  had  recently  worn — as  if  the  spirit,  in  departing, 
had  left  that  imprint  of  the  soul  stamped  in  the 
lineaments  of  the  face, — a  serene  and  pathetic  beauty 
imparting  to  the  beholder  something  of  the  beatitude 
into  which  it  was  itself  about  to  enter.  It  seemed 
not  so  much  the  sleep  of  death,  as  of  a  higher  life, — a 
light  as  of  the  dawning  of  a  brighter  day.  As  I  stood 
over  him  in  awe  and  reverent  admiration  of  that 
benign  and  venerable  face — venerable  at  once  and 
lovely — with  its  silent,  unchanging,  and  inexplicable 
expression,  as  of  a  new  and  a  holier  life,  I  felt,  while 
laying  my  hand  on  his  smooth,  broad  and  tranquil 
brow,  the  truth  of  that  saying  of  Novalis,  "  We  touch 
heaven  when  we  lay  our  hands  on  a  human  body." 
Grief  for  his  departure  was  succeeded  by  a  deep  feel 
ing  of  resignation — a  solemn  joy  at  this  happy  trans 
formation  from  pain  and  suffering,  from  the  cloud  and 
darkness  which  hang  over  the  valley  of  the  shadow 
of  death  to  the  repose  and  the  splendors  of  a  purer 
and  happier  day. 

The  funeral  was  on  the  twenty-seventh,  five  days 
after  his  decease ;  and,  though  the  roads  were  still 
blocked  with  snow,  it  was  attended  by  a  great  con 
course  of  his  friends  and  neighbors.  The  Rev. 
Andrew  P.  Peabody  preached  on  the  occasion  a  ser 
mon  on  Old  Age,  presenting  consoling  views  of  the 


536  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

happy  termination  of  a  long  life  of  public  service  and 
private  virtue,  "so  successful  in  its  active  days,  so 
serene  and  happy  in  its  retirement,  so  richly  favored 
in  its  domestic  relations,  so  tenderly  cherished  even 
to  its  latest  hours."  He  was  then  borne  by  eight  of 
his  neighbors  from  the  house  where  he  had  lived  for 
sixty-two  years,  to  the  family  cemetery  hard  by. 

Fifteen  months  later,  we  followed,  with  affectionate 
sorrow,  to  the  same  retreat,  the  companion  of  his 
manhood,  and  the  solace  of  his  old  age,  who  came  at 
length  in  silence  to  repose  by  his  side,  in  a  union, 
indissoluble  in  death,  as  it  had  been  happy  in  life. 

A  granite  column  has  been  since  erected  by  the 
filial  piety  of  their  sons,  to  mark  the  spot  where  they 
rest. 

The  death  of  Governor  Plumer  called  forth  inter 
esting  notices  of  the  event  from  various  parts  of  the 
country,  showing  that,  though  he  had  long  withdrawn 
from  the  public  view,  his  character  and  his  services 
were  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  people. 

The  Convention  for  revising  the  Constitution  of 
New  Hampshire  was  in  session  at  the  time  of  his 
decease.  The  following  extracts  from  its  proceedings 
will  show  the  notice  which  they  took  of  the  event. 

"On  Friday,  the  27th  of  December,  1850,  the  Honorable 
Ichabod  Bartlett  rose  in  his  place  and  announced  the  death  of 
the  late  Governor  Plumer,  as  follows  : 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  537 

"  MR.  PRESIDENT  : — Fifty-eight  years  ago,  an  assembly  of 
one  hundred  of  the  most  distinguished  statesmen  and  patriots 
of  New  Hampshire  met  here  and  formed  that  Constitution 
under  which  our  government  has  been  so  admirably  adminis 
tered,  and  our  people  so  eminently  prospered  for  that  long 
period ;  and  we  are  now  gathered  to  reply,  if  possible,  to  the 
yet  unanswered  question,  whether  any  alteration  or  change 
can  now  be  made  in  that  venerable  instrument,  better  to  adapt 
it  to  the  lapse  of  time.  When  we  came  here,  on  the  6th  of 
November,  all  the  members  of  that  Convention,  save  one 
alone,  had  passed  from  the  scenes  of  time.  Since  that  period, 
the  last  survivor  of  that  august  assembly  has  descended  to  the 
tomb,  and  given  to  us  another  admonition  that  even  ( the  path 
of  glory  leads  but  to  the  grave.' 

"  The  Honorable  WILLIAM  PLUMER  died  at  his  residence 
in  Epping,  on  the  ££d  of  December  instant,  in  the  ninety- 
second  year  of  his  age.  This  event  cannot  fail  to  make  a 
deep  impression  upon  the  mind  of  every  citizen  of  New 
Hampshire,  and  especially  demands  from  us  a  public  recog 
nition  of  the  solemn  dispensation  of  Divine  Providence. 
Governor  Plumer  had,  for  a  very  long  period,  filled  a  wide 
space  in  the  regard  and  affections  of  his  fellow  men. 

"  He  was  born  in  Newbury,  on  the  25th  of  June,  1759. 
At  about  the  age  of  eight  years,  he  removed  with  his  father 
to  Epping,  where  he  resided  till  his  death.  At  an  early  age, 
he  was  elected  Representative  to  the  Legislature  from  that 
town,  and  held  that  office  for  eight  years ;  for  two  years  of 
which  time  he  occupied  the  Speaker's  chair.  He  was  after 
wards  elected  to  the  Senate  of  this  State,  in  which  body  he 
held  the  office  of  President. 


538  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMEK. 

"  In  1792,  he  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  the  Convention  to 
revise  the  Constitution  of  the  state,  and  by  the  imperfect 
journal  of  that  Convention,  which  has  been  in  our  hands,  we 
see  with  what  diligence  and  success  he  labored  to  leave  the 
impress  of  his  patriotic  mind  upon  that  instrument,  which, 
after  the  lapse  of  more  than  half  a  century,  we  find  it  so 
difficult  if  not  impossible  to  amend.  In  1802  he  was  elected 
to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  where  he  served  till  1807. 
In  1812,  1816,  1817,  and  1818,  he  was  chosen  and  served  as 
Governor  of  New  Hampshire ;  and  in  1820  was  chosen  an 
Elector  for  this  State  of  President  and  Vice-President.  In 
1787  he  was  admitted  a  member  of  the  Bar,  and  for  twenty 
years  practised  his  profession  with  high  reputation  for  legal 
learning,  integrity,  and  talent.  In  all  his  various  public 
offices  he  watched  with  such  vigilance,  and  labored  with  such 
perseverance,  for  the  interests  and  welfare  of  his  constituents, 
as  to  secure  their  high  esteem  and  lasting  gratitude. 

"  As  an  humble  expression  of  our  regard  for  his  memory, 
I  ask  for  the  adoption  by  the  Convention  of  the  following 
resolutions : 

"Resolved,  That  in  the  death  of  the  Honorable  William  Plumer  the 
state  has  Jost  an  eminent  statesman,  a  patriotic  citizen  and  an  honest  man. 

"  Resolved,  That  for  his  long  and  faithful  public  services  and  exemplary 
virtues  as  a  citizen,  the  whole  people  should  cherish  his  memory  with 
affectionate  regard. 

"  The  members  of  the  Convention  passed  the  resolutions  by 
unanimously  rising  in  their  seats ;  and  as  a  public  mark  of  re 
spect,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Atherton,  the  Convention  adjourned." 

Governor  Plumer  was  one  of  the  few  remaining 
survivors  of  the  revolutionary  period, — a  sample  of 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLITMER.  539 

the  kind  of  men  by  whom  that  crisis,  and  the  scarcely 
less  dangerous  one  which  immediately  followed  the 
revolution,  were  encountered.  Debarred  in  early  life 
from  the  advantages  of  education,  he  was  essentially 
a  self-made  man.  Deriving  his  knowledge  from 
observation  more  than  from  books,  though  he  was 
ultimately  a  well-read  English  scholar,  he  showed 
always  the  freshness  of  an  original  observer,  and  he 
never  failed  to  express  clearly  the  truth  which  he 
had  himself  seen  and  verified.  It  was  his  sincerity  of 
conviction,  added  to  a  fearlessness  of  temper  which 
never  shrank  from  the  expression,  on  all  suitable  occa 
sions,  of  his  real  opinions  and  sentiments,  which  gave 
uncommon  weight  to  what  he  uttered,  and  left  no 
one  who  heard  him  without  the  strongest  conviction 
of  his  earnestness. 

His  attention  was  ever  on  the  alert,  and  nothing 
passed  in  his  presence  which  he  did  not  inquire  into, 
and,  if  possible,  understand.  This  steady,  unremitted 
pursuit  of  knowledge  was  strong  in  him  to  the  last, 
quickening  his  ear,  and  strengthening  his  memory. 

His  humanity  was  ever  active.  Nothing  offended 
him  more  than  wanton  cruelty  to  man  or  beast,  and, 
though  careless  of  his  own  exposure  to  danger  or  to 
toil,  he  was  tenderly  regardful  of  the  labor  and  the 
sufferings  of  others.  His  politeness,  understanding 
by  that  word  a  courteous  regard  for  the  feelings 
of  others,  was  uniform  and  enduring.  Even  his 


540  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

children,  who  visited  him  every  day,  were  helped 
by  him  to  a  chair,  and  were  not  permitted  to  depart 
without  his  waiting  upon  them  to  the  door.  This  he 
did,  and  would  do,  with  affectionate  assiduity,  not 
withstanding  their  remonstrances,  almost  to  the  very 
close  of  life.  The  old  man  of  more  than  fourscore 
had  forgotten  none  of  the  amiable  attentions  of  his 
younger  years. 

He  was  fond  of  society,  and  the  visits  of  his  friends 
were  always  acceptable.  They  seemed  to  rouse  him 
to  new  life,  and  he  conversed  as  if  conversation  were 
his  only  pleasure.  "Dr.  Ripley,"  says  Emerson, 
"  knew  every  body's  grandfather."  This  was  true 
of  my  father.  In  early  life  he  sought  the  company 
of  the  aged,  and  in  age  he  was  fond  of  the  young. 
The  company  must  have  been  more  than  commonly 
select,  into  which  his  entrance  did  not  bring  some 
new  element  of  enjoyment  or  instruction,  not  by 
loud  or  obtrusive  demonstrations,  but  by  the  extent 
of  his  information,  the  readiness  and  vivacity  of  his 
discourse,  and  the  unstudied  ease  and  urbanity  of  his 
manners. 

Utility  was  the  great  object  of  his  pursuit,  and  he 
showed  some  impatience  of  studies  which  seemed  to 
have  no  relations  with  life.  His  own  knowledge  was 
all  of  the  practical  kind.  He  seemed  to  reject  from 
it  whatever  could  not  be  turned  to  some  practical 
purpose.  Matters  merely  curious  had  for  him  very 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  541 

little  attraction.  This  indifference  was,  perhaps,  car 
ried  by  him  sometimes  too  far,  as  it  is  not  always 
easy  to  foresee  to  what  uses  knowledge,  apparently 
useless,  may,  in  the  progress  of  events,  be  put. 

In  person,  he  was  tall  and  erect,  his  complexion 
dark,  his  face  rather  long  and  thin,  his  hair  black, 
and  his  eyes  black  and  sparkling,  with  a  look  and  a 
smile — when  he  was  pleased  himself,  or  would  please 
others — expressive  of  the  most  winning  good  will  and 
kindness.  In  old  age,  his  thin  grey  locks,  the  mild 
fire  of  his  eye,  and  the  smile  on  his  lips,  gave  him  a 
beauty  and  grandeur,  at  once  conciliatory  and  com 
manding.  His  eye  was,  perhaps,  his  most  expressive 
feature.  It  seemed  on  fire  when  he  was  engaged  in 
debate,  or  in  earnest  conversation.  Yet  there  was  a 
gentleness  about  it,  which  made  it  as  attractive  in  his 
milder  moods  as  it  was  terrible  in  his  anger. 

His  voice  was  clear,  strong,  and  flexible.  He  was 
one  of  the  best  readers,  if  not  the  very  best,  I  ever 
knew,  putting  the  writer's  meaning  into  his  tones,  and 
making  the  hearer  forget  all  but  his  subject.  On 
Sunday  afternoons  he  was  accustomed  to  read  to  us  a 
sermon  from  some  old  English  divine, — Barrow  or 
Taylor.  On  such  occasions,  he  did  ample  justice  to 
his  author ;  and  "  truths  divine  came  mended  from 
his  tongue."  We  were  then  required  to  read  a  chap 
ter  from  the  Bible.  On  this  he  would  question  us 
as  to  its  meaning,  and  accompany  his  inquiries  with 


542  LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER. 

remarks  and  information,  often  curious  and  original, 
and  always  evincing  a  knowledge  of  Scripture,  and  a 
power  of  comparing  one  passage  with  another,  and  of 
thence  eliciting  its  meaning,  which  I  have  never  seen 
surpassed.  These  Sunday  evening  recitations,  which 
were  kept  up  till  the  family  circle  was  broken  by  the 
marriage  of  my  sister,  and  by  my  own  removal  to 
Portsmouth,  were  always  regarded  by  us  with  great 
interest,  and  were  equally  pleasant  and  instructive. 
His  remarks  were  not  so  much  the  result  of  deep 
learning,  which  he  did  not  possess,  as  of  a  rare 
sagacity  which  revealed  to  him  what  profounder 
study  made  known  to  others. 

I  close  this  labor  of  filial  piety  with  mingled  feel 
ings  of  pleasure  and  regret, — of  pleasure  that  it  is 
accomplished,  of  regret  at  the  manner  in  which  it  is 
performed.  I  commit  it,  with  its  many  imperfections, 
to  the  charitable  construction  of  friends,  who  know 
under  what  discouragements,  in  sickness  and  suffer 
ing,  it  has  been  pushed  steadily,  but  slowly,  forward 
to  its  present  imperfect  completion.  To  others,  the 
author  and  his  theme  are  alike  indifferent,  and  can 
have  no  claim  to  attention  or  regard  beyond  what 
the  theme  itself  may  possess,  as  presenting  a  picture, 
more  or  less  perfect,  of  a  true  man — a  man  of  head, 
heart,  and  hand, — of  thought,  feeling,  and  action — a 
man  not  great,  in  the  sense  in  which  some  three  or  four 


LIFE     OF     WILLIAM     PLUMER.  543 

in  a  century  are,  who  leave  their  stamp  on  their  age 
or  country — not  perfect,  as  being,  even  in  his  own 
opinion,  never  in  the  wrong ;  but  yet  clear  in  intel 
lect,  warm  in  affection,  upright  in  purpose,  and  active 
and  indefatigable  in  exertion.  Such  a  life,  if  well- 
written,  might  be  an  encouraging  example  to  youth 
toiling  in  poverty  and  under  privation ;  to  manhood 
tasked  with  labor  and  tried  by  temptation;  to  old 
age,  cheerful  amidst  suffering,  and  tranquil  in  its 
pilgrimage,  amid  the  splendors  of  departing  day, 
down  the  long  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death. 

Fortunate  in  life,  and  in  death  unfortunate  only, 
parent  revered,  in  this  most  inadequate  portraiture 
of  thy  many  virtues ! 


14  DAY  USE 

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FFR  1  R  1972  43 


LD21A-40m-8,'71 
(P6572slO)476-A-32 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


